Donations:
AGDQ 2011: 052.519,83 $
AGDQ 2012: 149.044,99 $
AGDQ 2013: 448.423,27 $
AGDQ 2014: 1.031.665,50 $
AGDQ 2015: 1.576.085,00 $
AGDQ 2016: 1.216.309,02 $
AGDQ 2017: 2.216.648,30 $
AGDQ 2018: 2.295.191,00 $
AGDQ 2019: 2.425.791,00 $
AGDQ 2020: 3.164.002,00 $
AGDQ 2021: 2.739.612,00 $
AGDQ 2022: 3.442.033,00 $
AGDQ 2023: 2.672.553,00 $
At AGDQ 2020, various runners, including "Luzbelheim" (or "Luz"), were scheduled to run a relay playthrough of Final Fantasy VIII. Hours before, however, Luz's Twitter bio went viral for his comment that he hates "feminazism", identifies as "deminonbinary", and he uses the pronouns "luz/luz". Other online news publications negatively reacted to GDQ organizers allowing Luz to play in the relay playthrough. Luz was given a ban without details about its length.
In 2017, a commentator, PvtCinnamonBun, on a speedrun for the game Ape Escape 2 for AGDQ 2017, was banned from all future events for supposedly wearing a "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) hat on stream shortly after Donald Trump's controversial election to the United States presidency. However, according to Kotaku, PvtCinnamonBun's ban was revoked since it was not actually a MAGA hat, but GDQ officials banned him again for supposedly unplugging a power strip cable. Another speedrunner, Cyberdemon531, was also banned from the event for owning the MAGA hat in the first place.
In February 2023, the game Hogwarts Legacy was added to the list of games disallowed for run submissions. The ban also applied to other Harry Potter-licensed games, though these would be "subject to further review". While no explanation was given, some publications speculated this was a response to Harry Potter series' creator J. K. Rowling's controversial views on transgender people.
In 2018, speedrunner "BubblesDelFuego", who speedruns Dark Souls and Fallout 4, was banned from all future GDQ events after sharing edible medicinal cannabis with a friend, which resulted in that friend having a panic attack and being transported to the hospital by paramedics. Bubbles consumed edible cannabis for chronic pain resulting from complications with Hodgkin lymphoma. Bubbles told Kotaku that although he understood why he was banned, he believed that the GDQ "enforcement" staff abused their power and were misinformed about tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active chemical in cannabis.