Bada Games x Hope Studio, Supporting the Dreams of Children with Incurable Diseases 2025-02-24

In January, a special charity event took place at 'All That Mind,' a multi-purpose cultural venue in Mullae-dong, Seoul. Game developer and publisher Bada Games, in collaboration with Smilegate's Hope Studio, hosted the 'Super Speedrun Marathon' (SSM), a gaming event to support the dreams of children with incurable diseases together with gamers and users.

SSM is a charity event where gamers raise donations by speedrunning—completing games as quickly as possible. This year's SSM was broadcast live on Naver’s ‘CHZZK,’ where 33 gamers completed 67 games, and viewer contributions were gathered as donations. On-site, a ‘Time Attack Donation Challenge’ was also held through Hope Studio’s donation platform.

Hope Studio has promoted a form of social contribution using a 'collective impact' model, combining the energy and creativity of gamers to solve social issues together. Their participation in SSM also aimed to bring together game companies, communities, streamers, and fans to break the stiff image often associated with ‘donation’ and ‘charity’—and instead create a warm stage to support the dreams of children with incurable illnesses.

*Collective Impact: A method where multiple stakeholders collaborate toward a shared goal to solve social issues.*

Donating can now be as fun as playing game!

Through this collaboration, Bada Games and Hope Studio demonstrated how the joy of playing games can be connected to donations, creating a new kind of meaningful experience.

The first speedrun challenge was an indie game called ‘Risk of Rain,’ developed by HOPOO GAMES. The objective is to clear each stage by defeating monsters across a variety of terrain. Gamer ‘Gogaeng’ was the first to take on the challenge and made a strong start, completing the game in just 11 minutes with calm control and precise decision-making.

Following that, gamers continued to clear a wide range of games through speedruns. As gameplay progressed, the excitement at the venue intensified, and a flood of enthusiastic comments from online viewers boosted the atmosphere even more.

It took about 77 hours for 33 gamers to complete all 67 games. During this time, the broadcast on ‘CHZZK’ recorded a peak of 6,642 concurrent viewers and a total of 309,487 unique viewers. All donations collected from viewers during the event were delivered to the international nonprofit organization ‘Make-A-Wish Korea’ and will be used to help fulfill the dreams of children with incurable diseases.

Creator ‘Seokimos,’ who participated in the event as both a commentator and gamer, said, “Donating begins with a positive experience. SSM played an important role in evoking positive emotions in the audience and lowering psychological barriers to giving.” He added, “I felt proud to bring joy to many people through a game I love while also contributing to a meaningful cause.”

Hope Studio: Transforming the Landscape of Giving

Bada Games has hosted SSM annually with the goal of building a sustainable donation model through gaming, steadily gaining operational know-how. However, as the event continued to grow, systematic management and stable support became essential to engage more gamers and fans. Bada Games turned to Hope Studio for collaboration. By operating a donation platform, Hope Studio built a system where anyone can easily participate in giving, introducing a new and enjoyable approach to charity. Bada Games focused on recruiting gamers and organizing the competition, while Hope Studio handled fundraising and sponsorship systems, maximizing their synergy.

One attendee said, “At first, I came to see the speedrun out of pure fandom, but the atmosphere moved me, and I ended up making a donation naturally. It was a refreshing experience to enjoy gaming while also contributing to a good cause.”

About the Super Speedrun Marathon

Bada Games launched the “Super Speedrun Marathon” in 2021, inspired by the U.S. speedrun event “Games Done Quick” (GDQ). Since its debut, SSM has donated all proceeds from its speedrun broadcasts to Make-A-Wish Korea, supporting the wishes of children with critical illnesses. The total donations have reached 66,750,691 KRW to date. 

Interview with Im Bada, CEO of Bada Games

Q. What led you to collaborate with Hope Studio?

A. Hope aStudio was a partner whose direction and vision aligned well with the donation culture we sought to establish. We decided to collaborate to help build a donation culture that the public could engage with easily and sustainably. Through their donation platform, we received practical support in operating fundraising campaigns.

 

Q. What kind of synergy is created when gaming and donation come together?

A. Our goal is to make donation a natural and enjoyable part of everyday life. SSM is designed to link the traditional model of streaming donations with charity, allowing people who enjoy games to naturally participate in sharing and giving. We hope more people realize that donating can also be fun.

 

Q. What is the main goal that SSM aims to achieve?

A. The most important goal is to operate this event on an annual basis. We don’t want SSM to end as a one-time event—we hope it becomes a medium for promoting a donation culture through games and a sustainable platform.

Hope Studio’s donation platform, inspired by gamification, combines the joy of gaming with the meaning of giving. We believe it leads the way toward a warm, inclusive culture of giving. We hope the wave of donations sparked by gaming will lead to even greater social impact in the future.