A Russian speedrunner tried to dupe the whole moment into a marathon of finishing games as quickly as possible. He was banned from the event.
Every year, speedrunners around the world attempt to break records in the Summer Games Done Quick Marathon. And the 2022 edition, which was held from June 26 to July 3, risks going down in history for the wrong reasons. During the event, a participant known as Mekarazium cheated, PCGamesN said in an article published on July 5.
Concretely, this Russian speedrunner made believe that he had broken a live record, while he used previously recorded sections, broadcast from home to give the illusion. The performance is about the action game’s Blade Wolf expansion Metal Gear Rising: Revengeancecompleted in less than seven minutes (one prowess which was greatly applauded). After learning of the deception, the organizers of the Summer Games Done Quick removed the video from their site, not without expressing their dismay.
“It is absolutely unacceptable”
” This is absolutely unacceptable and undermines the integrity of the speedrunning community that we love and support “, said GDQ (Games Done Quick), organization in charge of the event. He also made the decision to ban Mekarazium from future marathons, condemning the intentional nature of his cheating: “ He reached out to our team sharing a document detailing that he’s been planning this for over a month “. To achieve his ends, Mekarazium was able to count on the fact that he was playing remotely (due to the coronavirus pandemic).
Mekarazium clearly cheated the audience for a simple reason: people donated money so he could try to break a record in the DLC of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance ($25,000 minimum, in the form of donations to associations such as Doctors Without Borders). Those who paid were hoping to see a challenge performed live and finally saw a recording, impressive as it was, shared by a speedrunner who played the comedy well until the end. Some were still less fooled than others, noting the absence of noises normally produced by the keyboard – among other assembly concerns.
He cheats, apologizes and then… denounces
Mekarazium has held an astonishing doublespeak over the past few hours. He first confessed his fault. “ I did something wrong and I shouldn’t have done that during the event. I don’t want that to become a reason to end the challenges done remotely. I acted selfishly (…). I’m really sorry for acting like this. Sincerely “, he assumed on the Discord of GDQ. He got caught at his own game: his attempt at the main adventure of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeanceperformed live, was so good that he felt the need to follow up with a perfect performance for the DLC.
Then, in the columns of Kotaku, he put on his accuser costume: “ It is a provocation. A provocation for all those who watch speedrunning events without asking a single question. People will dwell on the fact that I cheated, forgetting the immense preparation required to ensure the attempt went well. “According to him, there is” always a price to pay “when you want to see” things change “. His somewhat murky fight seems to be about the relentless hunt for records, when the focus should rather be on preparation and methods (a point he raised at the end of his flawed performance, available on YouTube) . In short, the destination would matter less than the path.