San Francisco, California - TAG24 spoke with professional speedrunner Tim Engelhardt, who just broke his own world record while raising funds for a good cause, about what it takes to be the world's best.

Game-streaming platform Twitch regularly hosts livestream events, but during Covid-19, they've seen an uptick in popularity. During the pandemic, more people have turned to gaming to pass the time and achieve some level of social connection.

Twitch has experienced a surge in subscribers and streamers, as more people have tuned in to watch gaming-based charity events than ever before.

Having raised over $3 million in previous events for charitable causes, Twitch's Games Done Quick event is a week-long non-stop gaming jamboree where the best players from all over the world take on games from all eras.

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As the event took place earlier this week, the runners – or fast-paced players – had already raised nearly $400,000 for Doctors Without Borders.

Tim Engelhardt is one of the participants, speedrunning on Tuesday through a puzzle-rhythm game called Vectronom – and breaking his own world record in the attempt.

Speedrunners essentially showcase a game at an event, offering explanations to professional commentators, hosts, and a full team of background personnel which run audio, handle streaming and donations, and even do make-up.

Their goal is to go through a game as fast as humanly possible, and to continually push that limit.

Englehardt previously spoke with TAG24 about his efforts to mitigate harassment within the gaming community. This time, he's giving a behind-the-scenes look as to what it takes to be the world's best at something.

As you might guess, it takes a lot of work!

"The thing about speedrunning is it's about a collaborative effort. People from the outside like looking at the leader boards. But on the inside, its not about who has the world record but what is the record," Engelhard said.

Unlike e-sports, the goal is not to compete with each other, but to push boundaries: whether your own or whoever else might currently hold records in the game.

Engelhardt has become so good, he said, because he has the patience: "Not everyone can be a speedrunner, because not every person is made for repetition. You have to find a game you don't mind playing 100 times from start to finish. If you don't mind playing over and over again, then you can start to learn tricks and routes and ways to get better."

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Gamers also often struggle with "early game fatigue," he explained. "You play the first levels so often, so you just get tired of it." It is the reason he himself has felt burned out from playing other games he previously held records in.

However, the fire of determination was the only burn Engelhardt felt in his "run" during Tuesday's event. While focusing on his screen, he casually noted, "Oh, I think I broke the world record," and kept right on gaming.

When asked why it didn't seem like a big deal, he admitted that very few people have attempted the world record for this particular game, and the previous holder was...himself.

"It's about how far can we push this time, what can we do to push this forward. I'm not opposed to holding [a world record]," – in fact, Engelhardt holds multiple world records for multiple games – "But generally speaking, it's about what tricks we can find to push the game further and further, and its about who has the time to invest into the attempts."

Engelhardt has previously traveled all over the world to compete, but the lockdown had him gaming from his home in Germany for this week's Games Done Quick event.

When asked if someone needs to be able to perform a game perfectly with no mistakes to succeed, he responded that although he has won competitions literally blindfolded, you still get multiple attempts.

He had about a one-in-10 success rate when he broke his newest world record on Tuesday. However, depending on the type of game, it might take a new gamer hundreds or thousands of attempts just to make it completely through a game the first time. As he said, it's all about repetition.

"I've been playing Vectronom since it was in development," the pro noted. He was "a pre-Alpha player," which allowed him to give feedback to the developers on levels and formats before the beta version was released, which is a pre-cursor to the one available today.

"I miss the energy [from in-person eventing]," Engelhardt said of live gaming events, which are normally held at convention centers or hotels with the best players on earth in attendance. "The crowd cams provide super energy as you play. The entire arena is cheering, and you just can't replicate that online. There are additional activities at the events like panel discussions on how to be a better commentator, fully free arcades, and practice computers."

If the events are like the Olympics of gaming, Engelhardt would for sure be a gold medalist – in addition to already being a multiple-world record holder.

You can catch his live streams on Twitch under his handle, badBlackShark.