Over the span of four days, 25 gamers raised more than $100,000 for charity by playing a suite of Super Mario games and streaming the broadcast live out to their fans.

During its most-watched portions, the “Mario Masters Colosseum” event live stream had around 10,000 viewers simultaneously watching.

The event started on October 29, and gamers streamed live via the online platform, Twitch, from noon to midnight each day for the next four days. Viewers watched as each gamer tackled challenges in the game, and donated as different challenges were achieved.

When the group reached $100,000, cheers broke out.

“I feel like it was the most incredible moment of my life, and I’m incredibly proud and pumped to have been a part of it,” said one gamer, who goes by the handle GrandPOOBear.

Gamers were so excited about meeting the goal, they extended the marathon another few hours to raise an additional $7,000.

The event was coordinated by MC Moffit and Brooke Malone of Direct Relief’s Gaming initiative.

“Everyone is overjoyed,” Moffit said.

Since beginning work at Direct Relief, “we now have raised over $1.5 million with gamers individually, separate from any corporate partnerships,” Moffit said.

Direct Relief’s next gaming effort, Zeldathon Response, will begin on December 27, 2018, when the six-day marathon of The Legend of Zelda game begins. The marathon will be broadcast live at Zeldathon.net.

Visit Direct Relief’s Gaming page to download a toolkit with full instructions on how to begin raising for Direct Relief.