2K & Bethesda get their game on to raise funds for bushfire relief

2K and Bethesda Softworks are on a mission to raise funds for those affected by the catastrophic Australian bush fires that have ravaged parts of the country.

And what better way to raise funds than to have gamers from each company play the other's games? Yes, 2K will play The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, while Bethesda will go in guns-a-blazing to the worlds of Borderlands 3.

On February 15 the games will be streamed on the Bethesda Twitch channel and the BorderlandsTwitch channel. The action will start with both companies playing Skyrimtogether; they will then move to Borderlands 3 midway through the stream.

All proceeds will go directly to the Australian Red Cross to help people who have lost their homes and communities, as well as begin the rebuilding process after the fires caused so much destruction and continue to threaten homes and wildlife across the country. Viewers can show their support by donating during the live stream, as well as through the Tiltify campaign.

Content creator friends of 2K and Bethesda will also host streams over the coming weeks to join the cause, help raise much-needed funds and increase awareness as Saturday, February 15 draws near.

And in other Borderlands 3 news, there are only a couple of days to experience the Rare Chest Riches mini-event, which finishes up on February 13. During this mini-event, all Rare Chests drop rare loot at an increased rate, giving players a better chance to receive Legendary items any time they open one.

This increased drop rate will also apply when players watch a Twitch streamer open a Rare Chest, assuming both streamer and viewer have the ECHOcast Twitch Extension enabled. Any rewards viewers score while watching streamers will be waiting for them in their in-game mailbox the next time they play Borderlands 3.

While the Rare Chest Riches event is almost at an end, there is something a little more permanent.

A recent hotfix has permanently increased the spawn and drop rates of Rare Spawns, Hammerlock Hunts, and Targets of Opportunity, buffing their Legendary drop rates and Anointed chances to be on par with bosses.

In addition, the current Takedown at the Maliwan Blacksite scaling event, which automatically scales the mission's difficulty level to match the size of the player party, will also continue indefinitely.

2K says, "Going forward, the difficulty of Takedown at the Maliwan Blacksite and all future Takedowns will scale by default, though the upcoming February Update will add a new machine that allows players to re-enable "True Takedown Mode.

"True Takedown Mode restores the Takedown to the original difficulty level – which was designed with four-player co-op in mind – for an extra challenge. Once implemented, this new machine will be located on the right side of the door leading out of the airlock at the beginning of the map.