The Player 2 Charity Gaming Marathon Returns In 2023

If you’ll indulge me for a moment, I’d like to signal boost an initiative from a fellow Aussie games website, if I may. This isn’t something we normally do around here, but it’s a cause I believe in, and maybe you will to.

The Player 2 Charity Gaming Marathon, supporting the Terry Campese Foundation, is back for 2023. The marathon is run by local games outlet Player 2, who you may already be aware of. The foundation was started by former Canberra Raiders player Terry Campese, with a mission to support marginalised young people in Canberra and its surrounding regions.

Editor of Player 2, and friend of the site, Matt Hewson has been a major supporter of the foundation’s charity work from the jump, and in organising the previous marathons, has raised over $22,000 in donations. Every year, the Player 2 team hits the couch and goes live on Twitch for 24 hours of non-stop gaming and fundraising.

In 2023, the focus of the marathon’s fundraising is on the Terry Campese Foundation’s breaking-the-cycle program, which brings teenagers from troubled backgrounds for a six-month program of training, life skills, coaching, and team building under the tutelage of volunteer mentors. The program culminates in a trip to Papua New Guinea, with the goal of completing the Kokoda Trail. 90% of past participants in the breaking-the-cycle program entering gainful employment or further study. It’s about showing, and proving, that even if it might be difficult, there is always a path forward.

Because Player 2 has been immersed in the Australian games community for so long, it has been able to rope a number of industry players into donating a few prizes. Anyone that donates $5 will go in the draw to win a raft of gear from Xbox, PlayStation, EA, Bandai Namco, 2K, Ubisoft, Plaion, and more, all of which you find out about right over here.

If you’d like to donate directly, as I have, you can do so at the Marathon’s mycause page.

The Player 2 Charity Marathon will kick off on Saturday, January 28. Please make Paul play Desert Bus and tell them I sent you.