Ludwig’s hosting a 50-hour speedrunning smorgasbord–and it’s all for charity

Ludwig just celebrated his sixth year streaming anniversary–and to celebrate, he’s giving props to the thing that got him into streaming in the first place: speedrunning.

He, his company Offbrand, and more than a dozen content creators are putting on Fast 50, a 50-hour livestreamed charity event themed entirely around speedrunning (which, for those who don’t know, is where you complete an entire game, or certain objectives within that game, in the absolute fastest time possible. It’s a huge genre on YouTube).

Fast 50’s participating creators include a mix of casual and pro gaming streamers and well-known speedrunners, including MoistCr1TiKaL, Alpharad, cjya, DougDoug, PointCrow, Niftski, Coney, EasySpeezy, LilKirbs, LilAggy, star0chris, Liam, Simply, GrandPooBear, Stanz, Vysuals, DannyB, ZFG, Linkus7, and Wirtual.

They’ll come together from May 31 to June 2 with the goal of raising as much money as possible for Wings for Life and No Kid Hungry.

“A lot of people know that I started streaming because of Super Smash Bros., but I started watching years before that,” Ludwig–who has nearly 6 million subscribers on his main YouTube channel, and another 1.6 mil on his second/news channel Mogul Mail–said in an announcement video. “In high school, actually, like 10 years ago, in 2014, when I found an event called [Games Done Quick], the speedrunning charity event. I loved that shit.”

Games Done Quick has been held annually since 2010, and has raised nearly $50 million for various charities, with its most recent event bringing in over $2.5 million. Ludwig’s announcement video is called GDQ is in Big Trouble, which he admits is “a little clickbait.”

“I just do want to clarify […] I’m not trying to compete or take out GDQ,” he says. “I mean, shit, I’m still going to watch GDQ when it happens later this summer, but I wanted to do something different, because I watch a bunch of speedrunning creators, and speedrunning creators are not the best speedrunners in the world, but I think they’re really good at being charismatic and getting people, into speedrunning, and ultimately, that’s what this is. It’s getting people into it.”

He adds that he hopes the event welcomes people who aren’t familiar with the vast variety of content within the speedrunning genre, and how you can have everything from a zoomy Elden Ring tour to “a Mr. Krabs does ketamine speedrun,” he says. Fast 50 has events like bingo and 1v1s on the schedule, plus “maybe even some IRL shit, like Jerma eating hot dogs for one hour straight in a tiny room by himself.”

Folks who want to witness Fast 50 IRL themselves can splash $500 on a VIP ticket, which will give them access to the speedrunners’ den in Covina, California. There are 50 VIP slots available, and buyers will be treated to meals, snacks, and drinks, along with a T-shirt–plus, of course, a front row seat to all the speedy goings-on. (Fast 50’s site says $100 of the ticket price will go to Wings for Life/No Kid Hungry.)

Those who don’t attend IRL can tune in on Ludwig’s YouTube channel.

“Ultimately, what I’ve realized is what’s the best thing for me to do is the thing I like to do,” Ludwig says. “And this is the thing that got me into streaming, so maybe it gets some new people into streaming. Maybe it gets nobody into streaming. But ultimately, as long as we have a lot of fun doing it, and we’re able to raise some money for charity, it’s worth doing.”