2021 ESA Winter by European Speedrunner Assembly started this morning (although there was a 20-hour speedrun of Skies of Arcadia: Legends yesterday as a pre-show). As expected, for pandemic reasons, this is an online-only event. Also, ESA normally runs two streams, a main channel and a second one that handles long or niche games, this event only has the main channel.
The event benefits Alzheimerfonden, which is a Swedish charity that focuses on Alzheimer’s Disease research.
If you would like to watch an Any% speedrun of Cyberpunk 2077, then it is currently scheduled for Friday at around 7:30pm EST / 4:30 PST / 12:30 AM Saturday UTC. I do not know the state of Cyberpunk speedruns, such as whether it is straight-forward or horribly broken, but it was given a three-hour and thirty-minute estimate. It will take place right after Final Fantasy VII Remake and right before Golden Sun: The Lost Age. I am a fan of longer JRPG runs, so that should be a good day.
Other highlights include a Mirror’s Edge (PC) inbounds race of Meteos_Probably vs BINGOBONGOS. There will also be a Pokémon Emerald Randomizer race between 360Chrism and SheNanagans “Pokédex Blackout” on the morning of the last day. The run will end with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.
The donation totals are typically much smaller than Games Done Quick, but they are still in the $50,000 to $90,000 range. Good for the charity, and good if you have a terrible pun that you want someone to awkwardly read.
