PlayStation’s State of Play for 2024 was today, and while general feelings seem lukewarm - there was some good news for a few speedrunning communities out there!

# Astro Bot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQpZM1fVSBg

Astro Bot speedrunners @noamsk and @CommanderFoxQ told me they are excited about the new Speedrun Levels. They look great and come with an in-game timer as well as a global leaderboard! The only downside? There are just 5 Speedrun Levels for now. But hey, free content is an absolute win for games these days.

# Alan Wake 2: The Lake House DLC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRFBVBoSdQo

I spoke with Alan Wake 2 moderator and speedrunner @TaintedTali about the reveal trailer for AW2’s latest DLC, “The Lake House” and while the trailer left much to the imagination, Tali shared her excitement for what appears to be more horror-focused content.

She’s also hoping the shorter DLC speedruns will appeal to new runners, especially compared to the main game, which averages around 3 hours even for speedrunners. With any luck, these shorter runs could spark interest in the full-length speedruns!

# Ghost of Yōtei

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z7kqwuf0a8

Ghost of Tsushima runners are curious to see how the newly added musket plays in Ghost of Yōtei. @Aeshmah pointed out that while it may seem like adding a gun to a game about sword fighting might be overpowered, muskets traditionally were powerful but *very* slow to reload - so the working theory is that the musket will be powerful to start an encounter, but not so helpful mid-combat

Perhaps the more exciting part of Ghost of Yōtei is all the new various weapons - for a brief moment we even see Atsu (the new protagonist) wielding a kusarigama. So weapon/combat routing should certainly be more interesting in Yōtei compared to Tsushima.

As far as wishlists go, Tsushima speedrunners are **really** hoping for skippable cutscenes on a fresh save file this time around!

# Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMN-x9goE7M

Horizon speedrunners might be the most optimistic of all. @Bdud5 is excited that save files used for speedrunning will automatically transfer to the remaster from the original meanwhile @huntks can’t wait for the faster load times and quality-of-life features from Forbidden West such as Quick Swap and no pickup animations. Quick swap is especially interesting (at least in Forbidden West) [since it allows you to cancel the animation on reloads!](https://youtu.be/v_kgT2b-u0Y?si=aYu0Sl4VxBjtzxD5&t=50)

User “Dan Pop” (not a speedrunner, as far as I know) asked Guerilla Games Studio Director [@janbartvanbeek](https://twitter.com/janbartvanbeek?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor) on Twitter about the engine behind HZDR, to which Jan-Bart responded

“*We call it the Franken-engine. It’s built from parts of the old engine that ran the game code, and combined with a ton of elements from the upgraded DECIMA rendering engine.*”

Speedrunners are already debating what these engine changes could mean for the speedrun - but only time will tell!

[https://x.com/danutz_plusplus/status/1838835929181474876](https://x.com/danutz_plusplus/status/1838835929181474876)

So in the end, while we may not have Silksong or Bloodborne Remastered to look forward to - at least State of Play wasn’t a total bust!

Astro Bot DLC, Alan Wake 2 DLC, Ghost of Yōtei, and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered!

State of Play Sept 2024 Speedrunning Recap

If you don’t know, the SRC Series is a lineup of challenges we're rolling out on a semi-regular basis, funded entirely by Speedrun.com. SRC Series challenges are designed to be fun and engaging, with a focus on community involvement. The prize bounties are smaller compared to sponsored challenges, providing a break from the stress of high-stakes competition! We hope SRC Series challenges will continue to bring speedrunners together from all kinds of communities to discover new games and meet new people.

Here’s everything you’ll want to know heading into the challenge:

**Starting Date:** August 24th, 2024

**Duration:** 8 days, until 11:59PM UTC September 1st, 2024

## **Prize Distribution:**

The $500 prize pool will be distributed among the top performers for the fastest completion time in the Initiate category. The distribution is as follows:

**1st place** - $250

**2nd place** - $150

**3rd place** - $100

Please note that in order to comply with international tax law, **the challenge cash prize may be subject to tax withholding based on the winner's country of residence.**

## **Participation Prizes:**

As usual with our SRC Series Challenges, we are bringing back participation prizes!

First of all, any runner who submits any runs to the Peggle Nights Initiate Speedrun Challenge will receive **one month** of SRC Supporter, if you haven’t heard of Supporter before you may learn more about it [here](https://www.speedrun.com/supporter)!

Secondly, any challenge participants will be awarded with the title “Peggler”. If you’re unfamiliar with Titles, they are a unique descriptor that goes alongside your username on your profile (as well as profile popovers) which can (as of right now) only be acquired by participating in Challenges right here on SRC. To find out more, check out our last article about Titles! [https://www.speedrun.com/news/17vr795x-introducing-titles](https://www.speedrun.com/news/17vr795x-introducing-titles)

## **Eligibility:**

Open to players aged 18 and above worldwide, with the following exceptions: North Korea, Syria, Sudan, Cuba, Iran, Somalia, and Venezuela.

If you are under the age of 18, not to worry! You can still participate and win the participation prizes, but unfortunately you will not be eligible for the cash prizes amongst the top 3.

## **Category:**

The category of choice for the challenge this time around is a unique creation created specifically for this challenge by the Peggle mod team - Initiate! Here’s the breakdown:

- Create a new file

- Play the first 15 levels of Adventure Mode (1-1 through 3-5)

- Navigate to the challenges menu in the main menu

- Complete the 5 challenges in the “Initiate Challenges” page in any order

## **Submission:**

Record your speedrun and submit it via [our Challenge Leaderboard here on Speedrun.com](https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/0z310pvk-pegglen-src-series-peggle-initiate-speedrun-challenge)

Follow the guidelines provided for video formatting and submission requirements, found in the rules section. Please note that a new requirement has been added to this challenge, requiring that prize eligible runs must have been live streamed.

## **Rules and Regulations:**

All speedruns must adhere to the official rules on the Speedrun.com Challenge leaderboard.

Contest Rules: [https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/0z310pvk-pegglen-src-series-peggle-initiate-speedrun-challenge/contest](https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/0z310pvk-pegglen-src-series-peggle-initiate-speedrun-challenge/contest)

Category Rules: [https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/0z310pvk-pegglen-src-series-peggle-initiate-speedrun-challenge/rules](https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/0z310pvk-pegglen-src-series-peggle-initiate-speedrun-challenge/rules)

## **Preparation Suggestions**

To find tips & tricks for the speedrun, visit[ the Peggle Nights leaderboard right here on Speedrun.com.](https://www.speedrun.com/pegglen) Follow either the game or the challenge to receive notifications about challenge activity! You can also join [The Peggle Project Discord server](https://discord.com/invite/68Abdw42Yv) and chat in #src-challenge to keep up with the community!

**Good luck, and have fun!️**

Do you ever reminisce about the days of playing Peggle? Or are you a true Peggler, playing Peggle in 2024? We've got some exciting news to share – the next challenge as part of our SRC Series will be… Peggle Nights!

SRC Series: Peggle Nights Initiate Speedrun Challenge!

With the release of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC for ELDEN RING, developer FromSoftware really managed to up the difficulty of the game once more. Introducing new, [hard-hitting bosses](https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Promised+Consort+Radahn) that really love to throw punches like Mike Tyson, a new [NPC 'gank' fight](https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Leda+and+Allies+Boss) for players to despise (hehe), the elegantly brutal fight with [Bayle](https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Bayle+The+Dread), likely the hardest fight with a dragon FromSoftware has created so far, a wide variety of new weapons, spells and items, a whole new map to explore and more!

But.. what if all of that wasn't even enough? What if the speedrun community just has to push things even further once again? Well Souls veteran and speedrunner @Distortion2 just had that exact idea...

# **Defeat All Remembrance Bosses at Rune Level 1 (aka RL1 DLC%)**

Announcing the **RL1 (Rune Level 1) DLC%** competition, which requires runners to beat **all the major bosses of the DLC**, also known as **Remembrance bosses** as quickly as possible at **Rune Level 1** which means **no leveling up is allowed at all**.

![](/static/blob/1n57klme.jpg)

As if this wasn't big enough of a feat already, Distortion2 announced there **would be even more restrictions** added to make things even more interesting. To name a few (but not exclusive to):

## **ONE Scadutree Fragment upgrade PER defeated boss**

Debuting in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC: **Scadutree Fragments** are optional consumables that can be used to enhance simultaneously offensive and defensive capabilities at any Sites of Grace, acting like a permanent boost to your DLC damage dealt and damage negation.

![](/static/blob/1n73w70e.png)

Quite a few of these can be collected pretty early in the DLC through some clever routing, making some boss fights (a lot) easier because of the signifcant damage and defense increases that these Scadutree Fragments offer.

So to spice things up further for the competition, **participants are only allowed to use one single Scadutree Fragment upgrade per defeated DLC boss** which further increases this challenge's difficulty, forcing participants to really think about their equipment and routing.

## **DLC equipment and items ONLY**

Apart from that, **participants may only use equipment found in the DLC along with what is provided on the character through a pre-made savefile** meaning no base game equipment that can be used to quickly become overpowered with. Wow!

.. and there are even more restrictions though you can look these up in the Discord server for the event below!

Such a huge challenge doesn't come easy at all.. and thus offers a huge reward for participants.
The total prize pool for the competition is a whopping **$10,000** divided between 1st to 10th places, plus **a bonus prize pool from donations** that Distortion2 graciously offers on top of this already huge prize pool, as per Distortion2's last message:

![](/static/blob/rnq1kgre.png)

This is surely going to be one hell of a competition!

Interested in participating in the competition?
Or to hunt for boss strategies or glitches?
Or even simply to specatate the event?
We would love to see you!

Join the ELDEN RING RL1 DLC% [Discord Server](https://discord.gg/DYT4rDatk5) to learn about the complete ruleset for the competition, prizepool information, boss strategies, routing, other participants and more!

Good luck to all the participants!

Its been barely one month after the popular DLC "Shadow of the Erdtree" released for ELDEN RING but already a huge new speedrun competition involving this new DLC just got announced..

HUGE $10,000 ELDEN RING Competition by Distortion2

If you don’t know, the SRC Series is a lineup of challenges we're rolling out semi-regularly, funded entirely by Speedrun.com. SRC Series challenges are designed to be fun and engaging, focusing on community involvement. The prize bounties are smaller compared to sponsored challenges, providing a break from the stress of high-stakes competition! We hope SRC Series challenges will continue to bring speedrunners from all kinds of communities together to discover new games and meet new people.

Here’s everything you’ll want to know heading into the challenge:

**Starting Date:** July 19th, 2024

**Duration:** 10 days, until 11:59 PM UTC July 29th, 2024

## **Prizes!**

We’ve got a whole LOAD of prizes this time around! Have a look at the list below:

**First Place:**- Mad Jack Figure

![](/static/blob/3nv1x78n.png)

**Top 3:**

- $500 Prize Pool

**Top 5:**- Your name in the credits

- Artbook & Soundtrack Steam Key

**All Participants:**- 1 Month of SRC Supporter

- “Mullet Mad” Title

Big thanks to Mullet Mad Jack developer HAMMER95 for providing the figurine, credits spots, as well as the artbook and soundtrack keys!

**Prize Pool Distribution:**

The $500 prize pool will be distributed among the top performers for fastest completion time in the Any% category. The distribution is as follows:

**1st place** - $250

**2nd place** - $150

**3rd place** - $100

Please note that in order to comply with international tax law, **the challenge cash prize may be subject to tax withholding based on the winner's country of residence.**

## **Participation Prizes:**

As usual with all of our SRC Series Challenges, we are bringing back participation prizes!

First of all, any runner who submits any runs to the Mullet Mad Jack challenge will receive **one month** of SRC Supporter, if you haven’t heard of Supporter before you may learn more about it [here](https://www.speedrun.com/supporter)!

Secondly, any challenge participants will be awarded with the title “Mullet Mad”. If you’re unfamiliar with Titles, they are a unique descriptor that goes alongside your username on your profile (as well as profile popovers) which can (as of right now) only be acquired by participating in Challenges right here on SRC. To find out more, check out our last article about Titles! [https://www.speedrun.com/news/17vr795x-introducing-titles](https://www.speedrun.com/news/17vr795x-introducing-titles)

## **Eligibility:**

Open to players aged 18 and above worldwide, with the following exceptions: North Korea, Syria, Sudan, Cuba, Iran, Somalia, and Venezuela.

If you are under the age of 18, not to worry! You can still participate and win the participation prizes, but unfortunately you will not be eligible for the cash prizes amongst the top 3.

## **Category:**

The category of choice for the challenge this time around is Any%! Go as fast as you can on any difficulty you’d like (except for “NO TIMER”) and complete the game!

## **Submission:**

Record your speedrun and submit it via[ our Challenge leaderboard here on Speedrun.com.](https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/lwp40yez-Mullet_Mad_Jack-mullet-mad-jack-speedrun-challenge)

Follow the guidelines provided for video formatting and submission requirements, found in the rules section. Please note that a new requirement has been added to this challenge, requiring that prize eligible runs must have been live streamed.

## **Rules and Regulations:**

All speedruns must adhere to the official rules, available on the Speedrun.com Challenge leaderboard.

Contest Rules:[https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/lwp40yez-Mullet_Mad_Jack-mullet-mad-jack-speedrun-challenge/contest](https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/lwp40yez-Mullet_Mad_Jack-mullet-mad-jack-speedrun-challenge/contest)

Category Rules: [https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/lwp40yez-Mullet_Mad_Jack-mullet-mad-jack-speedrun-challenge/rules?view=challenge](https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/lwp40yez-Mullet_Mad_Jack-mullet-mad-jack-speedrun-challenge/rules?view=challenge)

## **Preparation Suggestions**

To find tips & tricks for the speedrun, visit[ the Mullet Mad Jack leaderboard right here on Speedrun.com.](https://www.speedrun.com/Mullet_Mad_Jack) Follow either the game or the challenge to receive notifications about challenge activity! You can also join[ the Mullet Mad Jack Discord server](https://discord.gg/47S9Ms6zme) and chat in #speedrunning to keep up with the community!

**Good luck, and have fun!️**11:59 PM

Are you an 80’s anime, synthwave, or otherwise a first-person shooter fan? We've got some exciting news to share – the next challenge as part of our SRC Series will be… Mullet Mad Jack!

SRC Series: MULLET MAD JACK Speedrun Challenge!

The Metroid Dread Speedrunning Community is pleased to be able to partner again with [SpeedGaming Live](https://sglive.speedgaming.org/) and our good friend [kekumanshoyu](https://www.speedrun.com/users/kekumanshoyu) to hold another tournament showcasing Metroid Dread, this time in the **[Any% Glitchless](https://www.speedrun.com/mdread?h=Any-glitchless-Rookie&x=9kv83mjd-wle962k8.klr8wp21-ylp6w5rn.jq66533q)** category!

Here are a few things you should know:

**This is an online tournament**. Signups are open to all with no entry fee, but please make sure you are able to follow the scheduling requirements detailed in the tournament rulebook. **You must be flexible enough to potentially schedule matches with international players within 5 days of the matches being made available by the tournament organizers.**

The qualifiers will begin on **July 20th**, and the actual tournament will run from August 5th to the end of September.

Signups will close on **July 27th @ 11:59 EDT**. The earlier you sign up, the more qualifiers you can join!

## Qualifier Heats

Before the tournament begins, there will be eight qualifier matches that determine the bracket positioning.

Qualifier heat schedule (*all times are in US Eastern*)

- Two heats on **Saturday July 20th, 2024: 10:00AM and 6:00PM**
- Two heats on **Sunday, July 21st, 2024: 2:00PM and 10:00PM**
- Two heats on **Saturday July 27th, 2024: 12:00PM and 8:00PM**
- Two heats on **Sunday, July 28th, 2024: 4:00PM and 12:00AM** (technically Monday morning)

**YOU MUST PARTICIPATE IN AT LEAST TWO HEATS**. You can participate in more than two if you would like. In fact, we encourage it because your best time from the qualifiers will determine your bracket positioning.

## Rules

Please read the rulebook below in order to familiarize yourself with the rules:

## [Any% Glitchless Tournament Rulebook](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TxVr6bh-vheTs_C4L4u0_QKYBFlWnveruryzM0xvQLc/edit?usp=sharing)

## Other Notes

- You are required to join the SpeedGaming Live Discord server to participate: https://discord.gg/eH4qa3Fnew
- We encourage all runners to show up 10 minutes early for the qualifiers and for the rest of the tournament. This helps the staff and admins out *greatly*.
- During the qualifiers, four people will be chosen at random to be showcased on one of the SpeedGaming channels on Twitch.
- There's a prize pool for this tournament! As of this news post, the prize pool amount is $85.00 USD. If you want to contribute further to the pool, visit this link and follow the instructions: [https://matcherino.com/t/sglive24?contribute=true](https://matcherino.com/t/sglive24?contribute=true)

Take care, and See You Next Mission.

The Metroid Dread Speedrunning Community is pleased to be able to hold another tournament showcasing Metroid Dread, this time in the Any% Glitchless category!

SpeedGaming Live 2024 Metroid Dread Any% Glitchless Tournament

# What is the Mario Party Series Relay?

The Mario Party series speedrunners are uniting in July to compete in 3 teams of 9 players under the pressure to complete Mario Party 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and Superstars as fast as possible by playing either the Story mode or all Mini-games of their respective game in a form of a traditional relay constantly fighting the odds of RNG.

This community event of recreative nature has a goal of uniting new and old Mario Party runners together and to attract the wide public to appreciate the fineness of a speedgame that isn't considered one. We are celebrating games we like and hope to perform the best we can, while showing what we can for our pleasure.

![](/static/blob/3ekxrxkn.webp)

*Bowser's Big Blast is the most recognizable Mini-game of pure luck from Mario party 2, also present in Mario party : The Top 100 and Superstars*

# How is the event organized (and who's there?)

The relay is done remotely, from distance on a virtual platform, on Twitch. It will not be face-to-face. After a quick ceremony/introduction that starts at 7 AM Eastern Time, the first players will start of with Mario Party 5 : Story mode. Once a player completes their run, the next player is responsibly invited to start their timer and commence their category. In other words, the baton gets passed to the Mario Party 4 runners in their respective teams and have to be immediately pinged/called in Discord. Since the players live in many countries and encounter multiple time zones, the ordering of games is based on the locations and availability of the runners. We will wait for every player to finish their run, before doing the closing ceremony.

New and old players have been learning and relearning their games, here they are !

![](/static/blob/kzwrlore.png)

*Starting at 7:00 AM on AQ_Noops Twitch stream channel where the event takes place, the public and the runners are introduced with introduction speeches and good wishes. The gameplay starts at 8:00 AM with Mario Party 5 with hahaPHD, DoubleDubbel and Gordo. The event ends up with Mario Party 3 and then the closing ceremony*

# Why is this event interesting?

In Mini-games categories, you are required to win all sorts of mini-games. You need to be good at mashing the face buttons, spinning the stick, timing button presses, choosing the right answers to the riddles, puzzles, labyrinths, quizzes or to precisely move the stick, while sometimes combining multiple inputs and skills. The RNG is sometimes a factor too, unfortunately.

Meanwhile, the hype about watching or playing a Mario Party board in a speedrun is all about immediate decisions on the moment based on calculations of time and the winning factors. There are mini-games that you want to lose to progress quicker, but with the consequence of seeing the CPUs buying an item or even a star - which is a time waste. Then, during the playthrough, you have to track the count of the Bonus Stars progression that are awarded at the end. Thus, you can't lose too many mini-games or spend/trade your coins, since the Coin and the Mini-game Bonus Stars are the two most important stars and factors for your board success in Mario Party 1 through Mario Party 5. Additionally, the Coins are often coming in clutch to secure a victory on a board when more than one player are tied in Stars. For example, you may be required to visit Boo to steal some coins or a star in order to avoid losing the board. Another example, you may be in the need to chose to make a CPU lose their Mini-game in a 2vs2 Mini-game, so they don't obtain a star they are close to.

Finally, it is improbable to have the perfect alignment of odds in All Mini-games especially in luck-based ones on the first try. The same way, it's impossible to 100% secure a board victory in Mario Party's, since the human players won't target obtaining stars, because it's a time waste. Or, sometimes the runner won't even have the chance to reach any star, because the star location and relocation is a big factor that may give a CPU up to 5 stars and you none - to quote a real example.

![](/static/blob/1n73xjle.jpg)

*Mario Party 4's Boo's Haunted Bash is a rather disliked board for its multiple unavoidable Bowser and Battle spaces, an inevitable Shop, a lack of Happening Spaces (for securing the Bonus Star for Happenings) and the famous Boo's Haunted Train which costs 23 to 24 seconds to play on the shortest route, although there are ways to avoid it*

# When and how to watch the players:

Again, the event is live on Twitch starting on the 13th of July at 7 AM Eastern Time on AQ_Noops channel here [https://www.twitch.tv/aq_noops](https://www.twitch.tv/aq_noops)

The event lasts close to 24 hours and is a one-day event. This means every player has to be streaming their part, because it is required to be a live event. 30+ people are involved, counting multiple commentators, translators and back-up players. We are from around the world, so the organization of the game ordering is tight and barely interchangeable.

Here's the list of all participants

Noops: [https://www.twitch.tv/aq_noops](https://www.twitch.tv/aq_noops "https://www.twitch.tv/aq_noops")

Akuretaki: [https://www.twitch.tv/akuretaki](https://www.twitch.tv/akuretaki "https://www.twitch.tv/akuretaki")

Dr. Cakenstein: [https://www.twitch.tv/drcakenstein](https://www.twitch.tv/drcakenstein "https://www.twitch.tv/drcakenstein")

KellyKr22: [https://www.twitch.tv/kellykr22](https://www.twitch.tv/kellykr22 "https://www.twitch.tv/kellykr22")

Rixaxun: [https://www.twitch.tv/rixaxun](https://www.twitch.tv/rixaxun "https://www.twitch.tv/rixaxun")

Taco: [https://www.twitch.tv/lctaco](https://www.twitch.tv/lctaco "https://www.twitch.tv/lctaco")

DillPickel: [https://www.twitch.tv/dillpickel__](https://www.twitch.tv/dillpickel__ "https://www.twitch.tv/dillpickel__")

Fernando_X: [https://www.twitch.tv/fernando_xspeedruns](https://www.twitch.tv/fernando_xspeedruns "https://www.twitch.tv/fernando_xspeedruns")

Freezy Pop: [https://www.twitch.tv/freezypopfp](https://www.twitch.tv/freezypopfp "https://www.twitch.tv/freezypopfp")

KitsuneofDreams: [https://www.twitch.tv/kitsuneofdreams](https://www.twitch.tv/kitsuneofdreams "https://www.twitch.tv/kitsuneofdreams")

Axl_SR: [https://www.twitch.tv/axl_sr](https://www.twitch.tv/axl_sr "https://www.twitch.tv/axl_sr")

BleedingBlue11: [https://www.twitch.tv/bleedingblue11](https://www.twitch.tv/bleedingblue11 "https://www.twitch.tv/bleedingblue11")

g0goTBC: [https://www.twitch.tv/g0gotbc](https://www.twitch.tv/g0gotbc "https://www.twitch.tv/g0gotbc")

Gerbiez: [https://www.twitch.tv/gerbiez](https://www.twitch.tv/gerbiez "https://www.twitch.tv/gerbiez")

Gordo: [https://www.twitch.tv/gordo_98](https://www.twitch.tv/gordo_98 "https://www.twitch.tv/gordo_98")

quo: [https://www.twitch.tv/quoooo](https://www.twitch.tv/quoooo "https://www.twitch.tv/quoooo")

DoubleDubbel: [https://www.twitch.tv/doubledubbel](https://www.twitch.tv/doubledubbel "https://www.twitch.tv/doubledubbel")

Frog1x: [https://www.twitch.tv/frog1x](https://www.twitch.tv/frog1x "https://www.twitch.tv/frog1x")

hahaPhD: [https://www.youtube.com/@hahaphdgaming](https://www.youtube.com/@hahaphdgaming "https://www.youtube.com/@hahaphdgaming")

infinigummy: [https://www.twitch.tv/infinigummy](https://www.twitch.tv/infinigummy "https://www.twitch.tv/infinigummy")

Kumanomi: [https://www.twitch.tv/kumanomi_0326](https://www.twitch.tv/kumanomi_0326 "https://www.twitch.tv/kumanomi_0326")

Lazaron: [https://www.twitch.tv/lazaronhol](https://www.twitch.tv/lazaronhol "https://www.twitch.tv/lazaronhol")

SchniDog: [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOkKYmWq9G3AH8NGBwh8-Yg](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOkKYmWq9G3AH8NGBwh8-Yg "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOkKYmWq9G3AH8NGBwh8-Yg")

holypotato: [https://www.twitch.tv/tatersthegoat](https://www.twitch.tv/tatersthegoat "https://www.twitch.tv/tatersthegoat")

Teddy: [https://www.twitch.tv/Teddytank13](https://www.twitch.tv/Teddytank13 "https://www.twitch.tv/Teddytank13")

ykrin: [https://www.twitch.tv/ykrin](https://www.twitch.tv/ykrin "https://www.twitch.tv/ykrin")

Yoshiphx: [https://www.twitch.tv/yoshiphoenix](https://www.twitch.tv/yoshiphoenix "https://www.twitch.tv/yoshiphoenix")

Apeduden: [https://www.twitch.tv/apeduden](https://www.twitch.tv/apeduden "https://www.twitch.tv/apeduden")

dalerben: [https://www.twitch.tv/dalerben61](https://www.twitch.tv/dalerben61 "https://www.twitch.tv/dalerben61")

![](https://www.speedrun.com/static/blob/7e9jywxn.png)

*AQ_Noops (here in the screenshot, playing Mario Party 8) is the organizer of the event and has put his mind to work for multiple weeks to make sure everyone has the time and the technology to perform their run during their assigned time. He has made decisive schedule adjustments and built the competition as fair as possible, by for example recruiting players of similar skill for the same game and randomly assigning players to teams*

The Mario Party Relay Race of 2024 brings together old and new players together to fight the odds of the unpredictable and to complete the almost-full Mario Party series collection

Mario Party Series Speedrun Relay Race of 2024

# May 2024 Anime Speedruns Update

There's a lot to go over this month as it's coming hot off of Anime Speedruns Festival 2024. We tried to go off of what was posted in the Discord server and came across the Anime Speedruns X feed! Tons of WR's were set this month, and like always there's a nonstop flow of new routing and information.

- Slayers for the Super Famicom which has had improved routing and a new world record set by @SecondPlace92.
- Slayers for the Super Famicom has had improved routing and a new world record set by @SecondPlace92. The new time is 2hr 14min 46seconds.
- Beach: Heat the Soul - Full Category sweep in the game by @SWITERZ
- @GalaxyGod set a new PB and WR for Cardcaptor Sakura Tomoyo no Video Daisakusen live at ASF with a time of 7min 34seconds.
- @Katsushi1998 found a Soft Lock% glitch in Dolly Kanon 3DS
- Infamous_ was verified and passed @Oh_Snap to take the Kakarot WR: 3 hours 55min 24 seconds.
- In regards to major Dragon Ball Z news Buu's Fury, multiple prototype carts have surfaced after 20 long years of the game being released. Be sure to check out the information in the discord, research is being done on how this can potentially change the run.
- Date a Live has had a fan game that was found.
- Date a Live: Spirit has started to be run by @jensj56 with the current time sitting at 2min and 50 for Tohka Dead End.
- The Ashita no Joe series has been punched with love, with new records set in every game by @MaindeSinge. Most notably, In the PS2 game 1hr 36min 9secs and on the Super Famicom game 7mins and 40seconds.
- Black Clovers Quartet Knights Asta Any% had some history made, as @Platinum_mad overtook @Lgndv and took the first sub 13.
- Shin Chan and The Shiro of Coal Town have their leaderboards up now and @runasoru set the first run. This is a beautiful game, and even if you're not intending to run it might be a nice treat to watch if you have time. https://www.speedrun.com/Shin_Chan_and_The_Shiro_of_Coal_Town
- The coveted Doraemon (64) Nobita to Mittsu no Seireiseki board has a new record of 39m 32s in Any% and 47m 52s in 100% both set by @eji573 who has been on the speedrun grind!
- The One Piece is still real, One Piece Unlimited Cruise 2 @MMat has been setting new WR times across JP/PAL versions. This game has some really cool slide tech movement, I really suggest taking a look at it.
- One Piece GBA (Shonen Jump's One Piece) has been having additional level routing done by @Nighlin, this was shown off most recently at @MxBatty at ASF. This game has become more and more optimized over the past few months.
- One Piece Odyssey Crocodile% was set by @miggnuggets. Will more runners challenge this RPG?
- One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 WR was set live at Anime Speedruns Festival by @Nighlin, @GlodRoger has also been taking back records on Treasure Logs.
- One Piece Treasure Battle sees new world records which were set at the ASF host house after the event by co-op teams @FinalCrash and @Glitchedd and @Shrimp_Brain.
- Fate/Samurai Remnant continues to be updated, with the current DLC on NG+ @HarryMacDowell stands with the top time.
- Fate/Extella Link Had an Any% run uploaded by @Galactic_Star, with an IGT of 47 minutes, there might be a good chance we see more of this game and its endings filled out.
- The History of Granblue Fantasy Relink is being carved with @WAKARIX taking the WR for New Game+ in Granblue Fantasy: Relink,
- @pipipipi achieved a 3hour 12min 43 second time in Any% No DLC. There's no telling what the time will be at the end of the year with updates new updates and releases scheduled for the game.
- @Mageius has been putting work into Macross Shooting Insight with the current record sitting at 43:26. Along with pushing forward tech and bringing the game to everyone's eyes.
- @DBcade beat a 4-year standing record for Genki Bakuhatsu Ganbaruger. The new record is 5min 29seconds.
- @CwolfPilot got Zoids battle legends NG+ PB and WR of 44:25
- @Pdently got the first sub 5 in Toradoras mini-game mode.
- If you're looking for more cute games, the master of them @Katsushi1998 has uploaded a Story Mode NG+ run for Kirarin Revolution: Kirakira Idol Audition, The run is under an hour for both categories, and they are more than happy to help new runners out!
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R, has seen a huge push by @SigridoGaming and @gamebrain to drop time across all tournament and arcade modes. It seems to be a nice little rivalry of sorts!
- JoJo Bizarre Adventure for the Super Famicom has seen new tricks and smoother play, probably thanks to translation patches, so now overseas players like @brkmnly can show off their skills. They reduced the new any% time to 2h 28m and 1s.
- Inuyasha: Feudal Combat has been having a lot of theory crafting and discussion about routes, especially after ASF. Post your theories and even test them.
- Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked, a game directed by Goichi Suda, has seen some improved routing and exploitation of the game's final boss to give way for a record of 1h 43m 42s by @Glitchedd
- GetBackers games were explored by the community, with the beat 'em up standing out amongst them, GetBackers Dakkanya: Dakkandayo! Zenin Shuugou!! has a fun co-op run to check out with lots of potential routing.
- Hinamizawa Branch School Basketball Tournament has your anime sports gaming covered, with @Akira_RP setting a Normal Mode record at 10m 21s. When They Cry Series is definitely overlooked, so it's nice to see some more games being discovered.
- Hajime no Ippo is finally getting the recognition it deserves with @Hudson222 stepping up to challenge some of the times, with some interesting strats. This is definitely a game punch-out fans could dissect in a big way.
- Demon Slayer Sweep the Board continues having initial times set, with some times being taken by @xddbzfan869, and the Hashira level has begun to be set by @DBcade
- In the Digiverse, @HaloOfValor got routed the Boss Cup Record to a science and took WR at 1m 50 seconds in Digimon Racing.
- Digimon World has seen @Kyutora and other members return to practicing the game and pushing for PB's
- The slightly creepy GeGeGe no Kitaro game for PS1 has had some PB improvements in all major categories by @demodoriya. In particular, Niku Ningyou is now a 19:43 sub-20 time with optimal movement.
- @AdrianVG finally put up a time for the Blue Mountain category of BLOOD+ One Night Kiss. Meaning the whole game has a speedrun path if you wanted to try a hand at it.
- @TheLoniestCubone not only reexamined Shaman King: Power of Spirit but set the new record to 4 hours 18 minutes 28 seconds. Maybe we will see a sub 4 hour in this soon?!
- Zatch Bell Electric Arena, and Arena 2 (Unare! Yuujou no Zakeru 2) have been seeing the charge beam strat return through @Esteban300s attempts. The current World records sit safely under his name for now.
- Gundam is seeing a small revival, with @JorgeReevs_ix submitting a 12m 16s Hygog run, very hype!
- SD Gundam Battle Alliance has a new pilot @Shelter_42 submitting a world record time of 2h 16m
- Naruto Clash of the Ninja series of games has been seeing some heavy submissions and records set, probably due to lots of combo vids (Courtesy @HippoGNT4) and TAS's being released in the community. Runner @AutomatedAlligator has become the Hokage of Ninja Taisen.
- A first record was set @Teufel9000 in Sand Land, The game has a lot of searching and routing that still are ongoing. The community needs more routers and researchers
- @Norishige710 has been holding Jungle no Ouja Tar Chan for several years now. After the event he started trying to route the 100%, however after researching this feat has never actually been officially done, so it would technically be a world first if someone collected all acorns in all levels, or at least could create a road map to doing so.

If I missed anything from May feel free to comment below, [join the Discord](https://discord.gg/k5wmNCSaVE) or @ us on X or Insta so we can can keep an updated list.

Thank you all for a great Anime Speedruns Festival this year, we have [ASF Akira Toriyama Memorial Event coming up in August](https://oengus.io/marathon/Toriyama). [ASF Bleach](https://oengus.io/marathon/asfbleach) is also coming up in October.

Be sure to [join the discord here](https://discord.gg/k5wmNCSaVE) and give yourself the roles for the series or games you're interested in (It's a very large community with a lot going on, so be careful of the ALL SERIES role.)

Any and all are welcome to be part of the routing and everything fun that is the Anime Speedrun community.

May 2024 Anime Speedruns Community Update, There's a lot to go over this month just because its coming hot off of Anime Speedruns Festival 2024! Like always a nonstop flow of new routing and information. 

Anime Speedruns Community May 2024 Highlights

Hello everyone, NFS Tournaments is happy to announce that it's going to host a BlackBox Relay Race between Stacked Deck and Eastsiderz, prepared to battle to the last mile!

# **Games:**

- Hot Pursuit 2 (PS2)
- Underground
- Underground 2
- Most Wanted
- Carbon
- ProStreet
- Undercover
- The Run

# **Hosting Channels**

### [Twitch](https://www.twitch.tv/nfstournaments)

### [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@nfstournaments/featured)

# **Schedule**

**Starting day:** May 25th, 2024

**Starting hour:**** 5PM CEST

@SlivenKage vs @thereisnofuture - NFS Underground 2: 5PM-11:20PM

@VROOMGUYx vs @toni_935 - NFS Most Wanted: 11:20PM-3:00AM

@kunesz vs @Cousin - NFS Carbon: 3:00AM-5:05AM

@SF5109 vs @DJTHED - NFS Hot Pursuit 2 (PS2): 5:05AM-6:45AM

@icecreaaam. vs @CrayZeei - NFS ProStreet: 6:45AM-8:55AM

@Cement Mixer vs @wortex - NFS Underground: 8:55AM-2:10PM

@MilesDippereon vs @CrayZeei - NFS Undercover: 2:10PM-5:35PM

@marino111 vs @SecondLtBadger - NFS The Run: 5:35PM-8:40PM

We will be very happy if you come join us in this amazing race and enjoy the show!

***The NFS Community is organizing a BlackBox Relay Race between 2 teams. Come watch us and have some fun starting time is 25th of May 5PM CEST Time!***

Need for Speed: BlackBox Relay Race 2024 (NFS Tournaments)

Summer Segments Scramble is returning to host the third ever Grand Theft Auto V speedrun tournament! This year, up to 32 speedrunners will be competing in one on one races in the six most popular and entertaining any% segments along with three of the most popular miscellaneous categories.

## Categories

- Trevor%
- Countryside
- Blitz Play
- Deep Inside
- Fresh Meat
- The Third Way
- All Stunt Jumps
- All Races
- Epsilon Program

# Dates

The first races will take place on June 14th. Most races will take place on the following Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and the tournament is expected to conclude by August 18th. Exact race times will be announced on the GTA V speedrun server once they are scheduled.

# Prize Pool

Prize money consists entirely of donations from the GTA V speedrunning community over the course of the tournament. As of right now, a little over $900 has been raised so far. At the end of the tournament, prize money will be distributed as follows:

- First Place - 45.0%
- Second Place - 25.0%
- Third Place - 17.5%
- Fourth Place - 12.5%

# Eligibility

Signups for this tournament will be open to the public until June 8th at 9:59PM UTC. Anyone is welcome to sign up, but if the cap of 32 players is exceeded, the competition will be limited to the applicants with the best GTA V speedrun personal bests.

All races for this tournament will be streamed, so any competitors must be capable of maintaining a livestream with a reliable connection.

More details about the schedule, rules, and forms to sign up are available on The GTA V Speedrun Discord Server: [https://discord.com/invite/3qjGGBM](https://discord.com/invite/3qjGGBM)

Starting June 14th, top speedrunners will compete for a community funded prize pool in Grand Theft Auto V’s most popular any% segments and miscellaneous categories. Signups are open to the public until June 8th.

Grand Theft Auto V Speedrun Tournament

Attention horror fans and speedrunners of all kinds!

We're excited for our next challenge as part of our SRC Series! If you don’t know, the SRC Series is a lineup of challenges we're rolling out on a semi-regular basis, funded entirely by Speedrun.com. SRC Series challenges are designed to be fun and engaging, with a focus on community involvement. The prize bounties are smaller compared to sponsored challenges, providing a break from the stress of high-stakes competition! We hope SRC Series challenges will continue to bring speedrunners together from all kinds of communities to discover new games and meet new people.

For our next challenge, we've selected **Poppy Playtime**! If you're unfamiliar, Poppy Playtime is a Puzzle Horror currently in development (with 3 chapters available) by Mob Entertainment.

Here’s everything you’ll want to know heading into the challenge:

**Starting Date:** April 14th, 2024

**Duration:** 10 days, until 11:59PM UTC April 24th, 2024

## **Prize Distribution:**

The $500 prize pool will be distributed among the top performers for fastest completion time in the Any% category. The distribution is as follows:

**1st place** - $250

**2nd place** - $150

**3rd place** - $100

## **Participation Prizes:**

We are bringing back participation prizes for the second challenge in a row!

First of all, any runner who submits any runs to the Poppy Playtime challenge will receive **one month** of SRC Supporter, if you haven’t heard of Supporter before you may learn more about it [here](https://www.speedrun.com/supporter)!

Secondly, any challenge participants will be awarded with the title **PLAYTOY**. If you’re unfamiliar with Titles, they are a unique descriptor that goes alongside your username on your profile (as well as profile popovers) which can (as of right now) only be acquired by participating in Challenges right here on SRC. To find out more, [check out our last article about Titles! ](https://www.speedrun.com/news/17vr795x-introducing-titles)

## **Eligibility:**

Open to players aged 18 and above worldwide, with the following exceptions: North Korea, Syria, Sudan, Cuba, Iran, Somalia, and Venezuela.

If you are under the age of 18, not to worry! You can still participate and win the participation prizes, but unfortunately you will not be eligible for the cash prizes amongst the top 3.

## **Category:**

*(Updated post-launch of the challenge)*

The category of choice for this Challenge **will involve running Any% of both Poppy Playtime Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 on the current patch of the game!**

To learn more, please check out our [Challenge Rules](https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/dz35e3g5-ppt_c1-src-series-poppy-playtime-duo-challenge/rules?view=challenge) :)

## **Submission:**

Record your speedrun and submit it via[ our Challenge leaderboard here on Speedrun.com.](https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/dz35e3g5-ppt_c1-poppy-playtime-duo-challenge)

Follow the guidelines provided for video formatting and submission requirements, found in the rules section. Please note that we require that **prize-eligible runs (top 3)** must have been live-streamed for this challenge.

## **Rules and Regulations:**

All speedruns must adhere to the official rules, available on the Speedrun.com Challenge leaderboard.

Contest Rules:[https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/dz35e3g5-ppt_c1-poppy-playtime-duo-challenge/contest](https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/dz35e3g5-ppt_c1-poppy-playtime-duo-challenge/contest)

Category Rules: [https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/dz35e3g5-ppt_c1-poppy-playtime-duo-challenge/rules?view=challenge](https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/dz35e3g5-ppt_c1-poppy-playtime-duo-challenge/rules?view=challenge)

## **Preparation Suggestions**

To find tips & tricks for the speedrun, visit[ the Poppy Playtime leaderboard right here on Speedrun.com.](https://www.speedrun.com/ppt_c1) Follow either the game or the challenge to receive notifications about challenge activity! You can also join[ the Poppy Playtime Discord server](https://discord.gg/rdwTbGRRwy) to keep up with the community!

**Good luck, and have fun!️**

Join us for our next SRC Series challenge: Poppy Playtime!

SRC Series: Poppy Playtime Duo Speedrun Challenge

Grand Theft Auto V

Mario Party

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005)

Peggle Nights

Metroid Dread

Poppy Playtime: Chapter 1

Elden Ring

jay_yeen

Daravae

xo7qoy9l

DBcade

RakeJyals

SlivenKage

Akuretaki

```
1 HOUR LEFT
```

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# THE LEADERBOARD WILL BE LOCKED FOR 4 DAYS TO GIVE US TIME TO THINK ABOUT THE RULES, CATEGORIES ETC...

## *If we consider that the leaderboard doesn't need to stay this way anymore, we'll end the embargo early and you will finally be free to submit your runs!*

---

**For the time being, if you have any questions, wanna participate in the community or offer your help for the moderation, feel free to join the Speedrun Discord Server! :**

[https://discord.gg/9bH3G9jEGs](https://discord.gg/9bH3G9jEGs)

R.E.P.O.

The moderation team has decided to halt submissions until leaderboards are properly set up. Thank you all for your patience! Please join the Discord server or use the forums to help discuss and share findings!

ENA: Dream BBQ

HASTE: Broken Worlds

Leaderboard will be available 1 day after release to allow everyone to play the game and explore, and to allow the community and moderators to discuss what categories we should implement. Please share your thoughts in the forums!