Genre-blended title faces its Waterloo

[Update: Upon review, I have altered the text to better reflect the amount of time developers spent pouring their talent and passion into Battleborn’s creation. I apologise for misrepresenting the situation. My intent was noble, but? I should've put more thought into my ??choice of words.]

Gearbox's multiplayer release Battleborn will be taken offline later this month. The imaginative but unfortunately unsuccessful release will shut down its server??s on January 25, rendering t??he game entirely unplayable, even in single-player mode.

Launching in May 2016 on PS4, PC, and Xbox One, Battleborn offered players a selection of team-based multiplayer modes, featuring a roster of great-looking and creative hero archetypes. While Battleborn offered a much different experience to that of Blizzard's Overwatch – released mere weeks later – the latter title completely overshadowed and dominated Gearbox's effort, essentially killing Battleborn right out of the starting gate. Battleborn would transition to a free-to-play format in 2017, b??ut by that point the ice??berg was well in view.

In a mournful thread on Twitter, Battleborn writer Aaron Linde lamented the impending shutdown, noting that a game developers had poured tireless days, weeks, and months of their lives into creating will simply cease to exist in its entirety. Linde's thoughts offer a human reality to much of modern gaming. Where once today's games were just tomorrow's "retro releases," Always-Online titles such as Battleborn will essentia??lly "vaporize", consigned to be remembered in history books and th?e memories of those who experienced them.

For what it's worth, I thought Battleborn had a really great roster of characters, smartly designed and bursting with personality. But I also remember how foreboding the weeks leading up to its launch were, with the impending feeling that Overwatch's pre-release marketing hype was too much to overcome. Ultimately, Overwatch was the better game, but that doesn't mean Battleborn deserved as harsh a fate as it received. Regardless, I doubt very much Battleborn will ever be tru?ly "forgotten" in the annals of gaming. In the interne?t age, everything lives forever.

The post Battleborn server?s to shut down permanently January 25 appeared first on Destructoid.

The only natural conclusion

Battleborn, alrea?dy dead for all intents and purposes, will be officially dead in a year's time. Gearbox's doomed hero-shootin??g MOBA will be taken offline in January 2021.

2K Games has revealed its plans to pull the plug on Battleborn's servers at the beginning of 2021. When this happens, "Battleborn won't be playable in any way." It has already been pulled from digital storefronts on Steam, the PlayStation Store, and the Xbox Store. In late February 2020, Battleborn will no longer sell microtransaction currency.&nbs??p;

The reasoning 2K gives is impeccable: It wants to "focus our efforts and resources on other projects." Battleborn is not a game that deserves efforts and resources any longer. At time of writing, there are 15 concurrent players on PC according to Steam Charts. It hasn't had a peak of more than 100 concurrents since May ??2018 despite being free to play. Consoles add to that number, but not in any m??eaningful way that will keep the game alive.

Here we are, faced with an unceremonious end to a game that was never ceremoniously received. It feels misplaced to call this a tragedy or unfortunate or even just kind of a bummer -- all those imply that someone cares. Battleborn will die as it lived: With overwhelming indifference from nearly everyone. In 2023, you might remember Battleborn and think "Oh yeah, that was a game," just as in 2018 you might've remembered Battleborn and thought "Oh yeah, that is a game."

An Important Announcement About Battleborn [2K Support]

The post Battleborn’s concurrent players will drop from 15 to 0 in 2021 appeared first on Destructoid.

Struggling title enters 'Maintenence mode'

Gearbox's MOBA Battleborn will receive its final patch this Fall, ultimately pushing the ambitious but troubled online game into i??ts twilight period.

Though Battleborn has some postive features, including some nice visuals, a cool-looking cast and an intriguing first-person take on the "Heroes and Minions" gameplay, utilised in popular games such as League of Legends, it generally received mediocre to fair reviews on launch from critics a??nd the public.

Just two months after release, the PC player base had already dropped to below 1000 players, from an initial 12,000 in week one. The game went pseudo-Free-to-Play in June of this year, but by that point it was all over bar the shouting. Battleborn never recovered from its release opposite Blizzard's monstrously hyped and marketed Overwatch, regardless of whether people want to argue over "which game is bett??er", or whether they are "the same genre".

A release from game director Randy Varnell stated that the Battleborn servers will remain open for "the foreseeable future", but that he is ??leaving the tit?le behind in order to move on to a "highly anticipated project" for Gearbox.

Randy Varnell Battleborn statement [Gearbox Forums]

The post Battleborn’s next update will be its last hurrah appeared first on Destructoid.

Took 'em long enough

Ever since the launch of Gearbox's meta-growth first-person MOBA Battleborn, fans of the studio have wanted Borderlands-flavored skins for it. The upcoming update? will finally be bringing some of those to the table.

Six premium skins were shown at Gearbox's PAX panel, including ?Alani as Maya, Caldarius with Maliwan branding, El Dragón as a Psycho, ISIC as Claptrap, Orendi as Tiny Tina, and Rath as Zer0. In addition to the updated visuals, ISIC and Rath will come with new audio to match the characters.

Orendi's voice will also be done by the same actor who did Tiny Tina. (This is a bad joke that requires a lot of ??insider knowledge and even when you have it the payoff is low. I'm s??orry.)

Along with the skins, the update this fal??l will also bring a new PvP map and a bunch of character balance tweaks.

The post Six Borderlands skins coming to Battleborn appeared first on Destructoid.

Battleborn is free, gratis, zilch, on the house

It seems that all failing games eventually go the free-to-play route. Sadly, for as good as Battleborn may have actually been, it was a pretty big misstep for Gearbox Software. No matter what Randy Pitchford may have said (including talking about Battleborn themed porn), the game never took with the public, so thi?s ??new "trial" only makes sense.

Launched today for PC and Xbox One (coming June 13 for PS4), the free download grants access to all available modes and maps of Battleborn, but limits you to a rotating cast of six characters. This is similar to how Heroes of the Storm or League of Legends works, just that those games ??didn't?? originally launch as a $60 game with a season pass.

You can unlock the rest of the cast by earning currency or purchasing "Platinum" currency with real money. If you owned th?e game before this shift, you'll be given "founder" status and a ton of extra nonsense.

Whether or not this spurs interest in the game is yet to be seen.?? I'm not sure if Gearbox can escape?? their past, but maybe the ever enticing "free" price will coax players back in.

The post Battleborn gets a pseudo free-to-play option appeared first on Destructoid.

Things could have been different

One year ago today, Battleborn released to the world. And sure, we have fun with Randy Pitchford's ridiculous tweet about it, but the game holds a secret not many know: actually??, it is ??very good.

It could have been popular. Heck, I think it should have been the game of the year. But it had one major thing holding it back. No, it wasn't that other game people (incorrectly) compare it to. Battleborn's fatal flaw is that while it was great, it took too long to let players know?? it.

This theme runs throughout all of its problems, from gameplay to support. When it launched, Battleborn began ??with only seven of the twenty-five characters unlocked, with each additional character on a drip feed for players to earn. For people new to MOBAs who had eclectic tastes, it worked fine. If you tried every single character as it was unlocked, you cou??ld get almost the entire roster without having to grind.

But for the people who already knew their style of play, saw a character who would fit it, and wanted to beeline toward it, this presente?d a daunting grind. The grappling hook and shotgun-wielding Ghalt could take 40 hours to unlock. If somebody only wanted to ??play with a grappling hook and shotgun, why would they spend so much time as another character just to get there?

It goes past just character selection. The gear system is clever and deep, where common equipment can sometimes be preferable to legendary items depending on the situation. There's risk/reward in equip??ping more expensive gear, where a team of players with cheap stuff can dominate early on and end a match before a team running full legendaries even gets to activate any of it. There are even cheaper flawed pieces of gear whose drawbacks can be mitigated by sticking them on a particular character. Maybe something decreases reload speed as a drawback, but if you put that?? on a melee character it's all benefit.

Again, the problem is that it takes far too long to fully understand just how intricate the gear system is. It wasn't until I had a??massed 150+ pieces of equipment before it really dawned on me. Items I once thought were trash actually had incredible-but-specific use. What seemed like minor differences in cost and flaws could make or break a particular character build. Getting all that equipment takes time.

Not only that, most gear is awarded via random drops in story mode, but gear is most important in the versus modes. Again, this works?? well enough for the omnivores in the audience, but anybody who just wants to play competitive matches had to suck it up and run cooperative content -- often many times over -- just to get a specific piece of gear.

Support for Battleborn left a lot to be desired at launch; many users reported technical issues keeping them from playing. It did eventually get fixed, and even improved beyond expectations with the winter update. The response wasn't too little, but it was almost certainly too late. Few people would wait that long, and the initial population of about 12,000 players on Steam dropped precipitously. It now dips down into the double digits off peak times.

That is perhaps the most frustrating thing about the whole debacle. Battleborn was a great game at launch, and with the winter update and the five Story Ops missions, it's even better now than it was then. But it turned too many people off initially, before they could find a character to love, before they could experience the thrill of a close competitive match, or before they discover that one hidden line of dialogue that hits. People didn't stick with it, and you can't really blame them. Time is precious, and Battleborn required too much of it before it showed off exactly how it is precious.

Now it's a husk. The population is too small to get a game going in a reasonable amount of time. ?It's a great game I can no longer recommend, because too few people kept at it when it really needed them to. If you passed on it at launch for whatever reason, just know that you missed out on something special, and you'll never get the opportunity to experience it in the future.

Happy anniversary, Battleborn.

The post Battleborn: a great game with a fatal flaw appeared first on Destructoid.

Destructoid after dark

For those who are unaware, there is a thing on the internet called po??rnography. I’ve been told it’s quite salacious and pretty popular, making up roughly 99.9999475% of all Google searches. People say in these pornographic motion pictures and pictorials, you'll find males and/or females, often in groups of twos and threes, interacting in ways that would not be accepted in a decent and morally righteous society. Some of these images are modeled after protagonists from popular pieces of entertainment, such as from phenakistoscope discs, telephote programs, and teletype games. Why I’ve heard these illustrations are so widely regarded that e??ven titans of industry take to the public forum to send word and good tidings about these lubricious works of art.

VERY NSFW, but I have received reports that BattlebornRule34 is now a thing on Reddit. LINK WITH CAUTION: //t.co/laA7tR4Dgs

— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) January 16, 2017

A one Randall S. Pitchford II, who recently exclaimed his company will not be working on Borderlands 3 for the Nintendo Switch, let it be known that his perpetually discounted video title Battleborn had its own thread of pornographic portraits on the Reddit. Cautioning his more than 500,000 followers, which possibly includes many minors but who really knows, Mr. Pitchford directed them to the aforementioned imagery with the warning that these images were, in fact, very “Not Safe For Work,&rdq??uo; or NSFW as we in the know refer to it as.

Upon clicking this link?, I found the images were indeed very inappropriate f??or innocent eyes. Images like this:

Or this:

Or even this:

Why did he do it? Who knows. Perhaps Mr. Pitchford wanted to expose the world to a type of artwork they were unfamiliar with. Maybe he wanted to share with us exactly what it is that makes Randall get randy. Or maybe, just maybe, it was literally the only way he could get the public to stop enjoying Overwatch for even the briefest of moments to co??mmiserate over the fate of a game that didn’t have a chance in the world of succeeding.

Whatever the reason, I for one will cherish the day, this day, when the chief executive o??fficer of a world renowned corporation ascended to the mountain top, stood tall, and shouted the praises?? of graphic pornography.

The post Randy Pitchford found porn on the internet appeared first on Destructoid.

Winter update, new character, new DLC

I'll admit: I've slowed down on Battleborn lately. I still think it's a great game that got a raw deal, but after 200 hours and a Platinum Trophy, I was ready to take a break. It was in my New Year's resolution to play more short games, after all.

But in just a little over a week on January 19, there will be several good reasons to load up Gearbox's FPS; hobby-grade coop campaign; genre-blended, multi-mode competitive e-sports; meta-growth, choice + epic Battleborn Heroes!

Namely, the big winter update will drop on that date, free for all users. It includes a ton of new user interface and quality of life additions, like a draft mode, a f??ully unlocked hero roster, and more easily navigable menus, among other things.

In addition to that, the 30th (and likely final) Battleborn hero Beatrix will release for season pass holders. She's a debuffing Jennerit sniper who appears to be inspired by BioShock's Little Sisters. As with the other DLC characters, she will unlock a week late???r for everybody else, and will be available for purchase using 47,500 Credits, an in-game currency that represents 30-50 hours of play.

Finally, the third DLC story mission, Oscar Mike vs. The Battle School is also coming out on January 19. This is included in the season pass or costs about five bucks for those without it. The first two Story Operations (Attikus and the Thrall Rebellion and Toby's Friendship Raid) ?were pretty good, so I'm ??expecting this one to be worthwhile too.

So there's a lot going on in Battleborn next week. Hopefully it bumps the popula?tion up a bit so matchm?aking times are low.

Winter update arrives January 19 [Battleborn.com]

The post January 19 is a big day for Battleborn appeared first on Destructoid.

Better new user experience, except for matchmaking

"Why did Battleborn fail?" is a question that gets asked every few days on its subreddit. "How do we bring new players in and retain them?" is probably the more constructive way to phrase it. Gearbox has been paying attention to the community chatter, and it has taken a lot of the ideas to heart. 2K recently announced Battleborn's "biggest update yet," coming soon.

In order to retain veterans and entice old players who have left back into it, the update promises an increased maximum rank to work toward, daily quests to reward consistent play, a? draft mode to facilitate a truly competitive MOBA e??xperience, and an updated user interface to more easily find the most important information.

That sounds pretty slick for the people who are already invested, but one of the biggest perceived roadblocks to Battleborn maintaining a healthy community is the experience for new players. The update also has ideas for them: now all 25 of the original heroes will be unlocked from the beginning so people don't feel stifled into a role they don't like, the story mode will have better guidance to keep players from getting too frustrated,?? and the competitive mode will get two new tutorial modes to ease newbies into a complex multiplayer game with often relentless foes.

However, the update notes do not mention any changes to matchmaking, which is where Battleborn suffers the most right now. The way it works now, it's common for extr??eme mismatches to occur, where one team easily stomps the other. It would be fine with the player count increased by a few orders of magnitude, or if it used an entirely different algorithm to create teams.?? At this point, it's not clear which of these would be easier to accomplish, but Gearbox and 2K might be hoping the update effects the former while they work on the latter.

More details for the update will be revealed this Thursday, December 8 on Gearbox's Twitch channel.

The post Battleborn’s winter update addresses a lot of concerns, neglects one crucial issue appeared first on Destructoid.

In-game festivities begin on Friday at 2:00pm Pacific

Regardless of your feelings about Battleborn, you have to respect a community that's able to rally around its game of choice in an effort to improve things for not only itself, but would-be players. It's something I've personally experienced in the Souls series, and it's always lovely to see.

As we recently covered, this Saturday, November 12 is going to be "Battleborn Day." The game's reddit community settled on that date as a way to get new and returning folks in and having fun together, and now developer Gearbox Software is embracing the event in an official capacity.

Battleborn Day's in-game festivities will begin Friday (11/11) at 2pm PT (5pm ET) and run until Sunday (11/13) at 8am PT (11am ET). Here are a few different things you can expect to see on Battleborn Day this Satu?rday, (11/12):

• A special "Battle?born Day Queue" - We'll be funneling everyone into one PVP queue for the day which will feature all game modes and fan-favorite maps. You'll be able to vo??te for maps/modes so you can show new players which ones you like the most.

• A Community "Super Event" -Do you like Lootpocalypse? How about Play with the Devs, Double XP, and Double Credits? If you answered yes to any of these, how would you like all four... AT THE SAME TIME? During this event, not o??nly will members?? of our team be out and about in Battleborn and playing with the community, we'll also "flip the switches" on Double XP, Double Credits, and Lootpocalypse – which means more XP, more credits, and more LOOT!

• ALL Battleborn Characters will be temporari?ly unlocked for everyone!

• Marketplace sales on Skins and Taunts - Enjoy 20% off all skins and ?taunts in the Battleborn Marketplace!

• Legendary Loot Packs for Purchase - You'll be able to purchase Legendary Loot Packs from the in-game Marketplace for 15,000 earned-in-game credits! Legendary Loot Packs will?? only be available for the duration of the event.

We're planning another small surprise for Battleborn Day. You might be saying to yourself: "This Battleborn Day stuff sounds great and all, but I'm CR100, so there's no real reason to play if I can't progress." Well, you're in luck –we're raising the Command Rank l??evel cap by 5! Of co?urse, five extra levels means more rewards, so come hang out with the community for Battleborn Day and earn those extra levels!

Finally, if all that weren't enough we're adding TWO brand new titles to the game: The "Battleborn Day" title and the "Battleborn Day Guide" title. ? The first will be awarded to everyone who plays Battleborn on Saturday. The second will be released via SHiFT code and as a means to help you show others in the community that you're available to help; that you're there to show them the ropes; that you'r?e a seasoned veteran who's ready to serve as a guide.

I'm seeing some complaints that Gearbox should've taken this opportunity to enable a "free weekend" to coincide with Saturday, and that undoubtedly would've bee?n beneficial, but I understand that these things can't always work out that way. The fact that the studio is doing anything is encouraging.

I hope Darren recognizes this day to its full potential and indulges in nothing but Battleborn from sunrise to sunset. A modern Feast?? of Maximum Occupancy, if you will. Maybe then he'll earn that coveted Platinum Trophy and finally move on to other games, like the ??ones I want to play with him.

Celebrate the community's Battleborn Day! [Battleborn]
Battleplan 27: 11/10/16 [Gearbox Software]

The post Gearbox is officially supporting the fan-run ‘Battleborn Day’ appeared first on Destructoid.

Gearbox wants to 'sweeten the deal'

Don't call it a dead game. The small-but-dedicated Battleborn fan base doesn't ??like hearing it. Still, even the diehards ha??ve little trouble admitting that matchmaking times could stand to be shorter and skill levels between two matchmade teams can be inconsistent. Both of those problems lead to people throwing in the towel, which sadly just makes them worse for those who stick around.

One reddit user, bkndx, wants one solid day with populated servers, with the short-term goal of being able to have fun with less hassle, but the long-term goal of potentially attracting and maintaining new users by providing a more positive experience for first impressions. It isn't the first time a Battleborn communi??ty member had?? the idea, but for some reason it really caught on this time around.

In the comments on the original reddit thread, Battleborn's Creative Director Randy Varnell even posted "You do something on this date on your side, and I'll see if I can do something from my side to sweeten the deal." This wasn't just foreshadowing to the recently announced release of the upcoming DLC Toby's Friendship Raid on November 10; Gearbox intends to introduce a special multiplayer playlist on November 12 to boost the community event.

The game itself is down under $2?0 on Amazon right now, so if you ever had any interest now might be the time to try it ?out. It sounds like playing on November 12 might be the best shot we have at being able to find balanced games quickly.

The post Fans declare November 12 ‘Battleborn Day,’ want to repopulate servers appeared first on Destructoid.

Play it again, Ambra

For a lot of people, Attikus and the Thrall Rebellion is going to be too little, too late. Battleborn has been plagued with issues since its launch, from poor PC performance to a rapidly decreasing base of players causing long wait times to get into a game. Season pass holders and cooperative-only players have good reason to be annoyed; it's taken five mont?hs since launch for this first piece of story downloadable content to release.

That said, anybody who stuck it out with Battleborn should be pleased with Attikus and the Thrall Rebellion. What's here is short and sweet, but it manages?? to be surprisingly replayable. For five bucks, it's an easy recommendation.

Battleborn: Attikus and the Thrall Rebellion (PC, PS4 [reviewed], Xbox One)
Developer: Gearbox Software
Publisher: 2K Games
Released: October 13, 2016
MSRP: $4.99

While most of the included story missions have built-in replayability, it's small stuff like randomized challenges and the differences that come from tackling it with one of the many characters. The hook for Thrall Rebellion (and pre??sumably the other four "Story Operations" DLC packs in the pipeline) is an almost modular missions structur?e.

While the mission backbone remains constant, each crescendo is accompanied by optional objectives that can change from game to game. In on??e game, there may be a simple puzzle to solve before defending the first rendezvous point, then in the next there might be sniper bots posted on the rooftops that need to be destroyed instead.

Completing the optional objectives awards "Ops Points," which serve two functions. First, it acts almost as a dynamic AI, with enemies growing stronger and more numerous at higher Ops Point totals. Second, it is the gatekeeper in front of the cosmetic content included in Thrall Rebellion. Each current character has two skins to earn, one for a fairly low point total?? and another requiring a more d??ifficult sum.

The optional objectives aren't all equal. During higher Ops Point runs, there is one that asks players to complete a combat section without taking damage from enemy air support that is constantly strafing the battlefield. It basically takes any melee characters out of the fight, forcing them to stand around and watch the ranged characters deal damage from under cover. Anoth???er objective tasks players with racing to a shard before the Jennerit can harvest it, except the path to that shard isn't ever telegraphed.

The submissions aren't the only thing that change over time. For the first few plays, the narration is comple??tely different, telling the full story over four attempts. I've run through the mission more than te??n times in the few days it has been available. Each run takes about 20 minutes, though searching every nook and cranny to maximize score can take as long as the main story missions.

The map is more Borderlands-ian than most Battleborn areas, with multipl??e paths leading to each choke point. Even though it's a short mission, there's a lot to explore. It's also great to look at, taking place in the red/purple slums of the Jennerit world Tempest. The story goes a little silly compared to the "save the universe" theme of the main game, retelling the story of Attikus rising up, but through a film noir lens.

The Story Operations only support three players, in contrast to the main game's five, but that might be a blessing for Battleborn's fledglin??g community. It hasn't taken long (on PlayStation 4) to matchmake a full game; the painful wait times between matches are gone, at least for now.

If anything, Attikus and the Thrall Rebellion whets my appetite for more like this. It's quick enough to play just a round or two and still make progress, and it's varied enough t??o play several in a row without getting too bored. But now I'm looking more forward to the other four Story Ops releasing so we can have that same solid gameplay with even more variety.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Battlebor??n: Attikus and the Thrall Re??bellion appeared first on Destructoid.

Attikus and the Thrall Rebellion

There isn't a lot that can pull me away from Destiny: Rise of Iron these days (I'm much slower than Chris Carter is; still leveling up so I can take on Wrath of the Machine), but if one thing can, if even just briefly, it's Battleborn's first piece of story downloadable content, Attikus and the Thrall Rebellion.

Recall that this is shorter? and smaller than most of the included story missions; where those support five players and run anywhere from 30 to 60 ?minutes long, the Story Operations are for teams of three and should only take 15 to 20 minutes to play through. There's a lot of loot to collect, with new skins and taunts for the current characters, so there's reason to play through multiple times for completionists.

Think of it like Borderlands 2's "Headhunter" DLC packs. They're small in scope, but they only cost $5. Expect a more in-depth look at Attikus and the Thrall Rebellion soon enough. If you fancy, go ahead a?nd watch the trailer showing off the film noir setting below.

Oh, and don't forget! This accompanies the new multiplayer mode "Face Off." That one is free for Battleborn owners.

The post Battleborn’s first story DLC is out today appeared first on Destructoid.

Details on Face Off

Gearbox's struggling FPS/MOBA needs a shot in the arm to keep its community from extinguishing completely. The first story-based downloadable content (Attikus and the Thrall Rebellion) is set to release on October 13, but if the ol' player-versus-player scene is more to your fancy, then there's ??something for you too. In addition to the Story Ops, the new competitively multiplayer mode Face Off is dropping for free on t??he same day.

Face Off takes place on the Capture maps, but instead of holding three zones, teams are pitted against Varelsi spawns in a sort of competitive wave-based survival mode. Each?? Varelsi killed will drop its mask, and the goal is to deliver masks to a central co??llector.

In contrast to most Horde Mode-type games, there's also an enemy team to contend with. Encounters with enemy players can lead to death, and death will cause a combatant to drop any Varelsi masks he has. Of course, there's also Battleborn's signature Helix leveling system, so over the course of a 15-minute match, the Varelsi also get mo?re powerful to compensat??e.

It sounds like a neat twist, and a decent way to make use of the underplayed Capture maps. The fact that it's free may just be enticing enough to get some derelict players back into Battleborn. The real ?challenge is keeping them longer than a couple weeks after Face Off lands.

The post Battleborn’s new free multiplayer mode is out on October 13 appeared first on Destructoid.

Seems like sometime in November is the plan

Gearbox Software's MOBA-lite shooter Battleborn never stood much of a chance. It released in the same timeframe as the likes of Overwatch and Doom, and everyone's collective interest gravitated toward those titles. Amid low player counts, early and aggressive sales were staged. In an earnings call, publisher 2K Games confirmed that it performed below expectations.

As many predicted, Battleborn will seemingly get a second shot in the free-to-play sector. Kotaku reports it has a ?source that confirms this shift should take place in the next couple of month?s, probably by mid-November. This has allegedly been in the works for a while, and that the announcement has already been delayed a few times.

Interestingly enough, the Kotaku piece mentions Gearbox wanted Battleborn to be a free-to-play title all along. It was supposedly under insistence from 2K that it was sold as a full-pri??ced retail product. That strategy obviously didn't work, so it seems as if Plan B is to switch to what Gearbox wanted all along.

There's recent precedent for 2K breathing new life into its games by going this route. Evolve was recently re-branded as Evolve: Stage 2 and made free-to-play. Initially, it shot up the Steam charts. At time of writing, it sits far lower (but still in Steam's top 100 best performers of the day) with approximately 2,700 concurrent players. If this report pans out, we'll see in due time whether or not free-to-play can work the same magic for Battleborn.

Source: Battleborn Is Going Free-To-Play Soon [Kotaku]

The post Battleborn is allegedly going free-to-play appeared first on Destructoid.

First story DLC mission coming October 13

For those following along, Battleborn has had a fairly steady stream of updates since its rocky launch in May. The first additional character Alani showed up shortly after launch. Pendles sneaked into the cast in July (or maybe he was there the whole time but we just couldn't see him). Ernest drops tomorrow for the general public.

Along with the new characters, three new competitive maps were released. But that brings up a semi-sour topic for Battleborn's cooperative mode fans: where are the story DLC missions? The first two were originally planned to release in "late summer," but with only a few weeks left on that clock it seemed likely they wouldn't make it in time. A post on Battleborn.com confirms that suspicion.

The first story DLC mission "Attikus and the Thrall Rebellion" is set to release on October 13. It goes through a sort of origin story on the intelligent thrall who fights for the Jennerit faction. The second downloadable story mission now has a name and a premise: "Toby's Friendship Raid" tells the story of the attempted theft of Berg, his death machine. Both of these are described as being shorter than the levels that shipped with the base game, and they ?support up to four players instead of the usual five.

In addition to the release dates for the first two downloadable missions, the following three are planned for "later this winter." 2K also announced a new competit??ive mode called Face Off. It sounds a bit like neutral flag capture, except the flags are masks, and the masks are dropped by NPC Varelsi fighters. Face Off hits on the same day Attikus and the Thrall Rebellion does: October 13. A second new player-vs.-player mode was teased, but no more information was given.

The post Tons of new info on Battleborn’s upcoming DLC is out now appeared first on Destructoid.

Did somebody say explosions?

Ernest dropped for Battleborn's season pass an??d digital deluxe edition owners a few days ago. He goes live for the general public thi?s Thursday, bringing all sorts of explosives to scare his enemies stupid.

He rounds out the Peacekeeper faction with a gun Battleborn hasn't had yet. There have been assault rifles, sniper rifles, pistols, submachine guns, and a rocket launcher, but now we have a grenade launcher. Veterans of Team Fortress 2's Demoman will feel right at home.

Ernest's grenade launcher holds six canisters by default (with a Helix upgrade optionally increasing that to eight), but it's les??s cumbersome than it could have been since he reloads two at a time. It's easy to get into a rhythm of firing off six shots then backing off to go through three reload animations before returning.

Grenades will bounce off walls and the ground and either detonate after a few seconds or on ??contact with an enemy. Skill with the arc of the grenades is rewarded with bonus damage for shots that don't bounce before hitting. It's tough to nail fast-moving enemy Battleborn consistently, but it's a great tool for clearing waves of minions which group up on more predictable pathways.

Ernest was billed as having support abilities, but he's not a full support character like Miko or Reyna. Rather than any healing or ?shielding, his Power Egg drops down on the battlefield and?? provides various buffs to any friendly units in the area. It can be toggled between two modes, one providing greater attack speed and the other granting damage resistance.

It's geared to benefit ranged attackers more than melee attackers, and it's easier to use to defend a choke point than it is to push forward into new territory. As Ernest progresses, it can provide additional benefits, like a reload speed buff or ??a mini bubble shi??eld.

Ernest's other skill is Explosive Charge, a sticky bomb that can be manually detonated. He can have a few on the field at a time, but each explodes individually (at first). Later upgrades can make these set off chain react??ions to nearby charges so it's more like the Demoman's sticky bombs, dealing a ton of damage all at once. With the skill cooldown it takes a while to set up, but it's satisfying to stop an attacker in his tracks taking a big chunk of health off all at once.

Explosive Charge can also be upgraded to allow Ernest to grenade jump. Later on it can be altered to act more like a proximity mine, revealing cloaked characters and detonating after half a second. It adds another hard counter to Pendles, the stealthiest assassin in Battleborn. One of my favorite things to do was to sit in a sniper perch on Outskirts with my Power Egg buffing my attack speed and reload speed while I rained down explosions on the minion waves in the main lane. I had a proximity Explosive Charge set up behind me, so when the enemy Pendles tried to sneak up on me, i??t would reveal him, explode, then knock him back and me forward, safely out of his reach.

Ernest's Ultimate ability is Mine Grid, which lays down a blanket of proximity mines over a??n area. It's great for controlling pat??hways or for dealing with melee attackers, forcing them to either lay off while Ernest gets some space or to try to tank the damage as he kites them through it.

When we first saw the concept art for the UPR's bombirdier, I expected he'd sound a bit like Toby, the other cute Aviant hero. He goes in the complete opposite direction, with a tough drill sergeant persona. It's another surprise that works in Battleborn's favor; he has some good lines and never gr??ates on the nerves.

While Ernest might not be my favorite character to play, I can see him being devastating in the right hands. People who can master the grenade launcher and score di??rect hits consistently can output some serious damage from a distance. With that along with grenade jumping and mid-air manual detonations, Ernest is a high skill ceiling explosives expert.

The post Ernest brings the boom to Battleborn appeared first on Destructoid.

Youths!

Ernest releases today for Battleborn's early access users, and already we have a glimpse into the future. The 29th hero to be released "in the next co??uple months" is Kid Ultra, that smarmy-looking youth you see up there in the header image. I already hate him, and I don't really know why. Something about smiling children is deeply upsetting ?to me.

It sounds like Kid Ultra is another support character, bringing the total up to six or seven (depending on whether you count Ernest as a support -- I'??m still not sure about that). Not bad for a game that started with only four in that category.

Of the five DLC characters known, we've had one each from the Eldrid, Rogue, Peacekeeper, and now LLC factions. That just leaves the?? Jennerit for the fifth and final downloadable character.

For those living in the here and now, 2K also released a video showcasing Ernest's skills in a variety of unlikely situations. I'll believe his Ultimate ability can one-hit kill some of the tankiest characters when I see it. I imagine it'll happen about as often as Pendles winning a 1-on-3 skirmish.

Ernest Early Access & The 29th Battleborn [Battleborn.com]

The post Battleborn’s 29th hero is some punk kid in a mech suit appeared first on Destructoid.

Two weeks for the general public

Gearbox and 2K are ramping up the downloadable stuff for Battleborn. It was more than two months between the first DLC character Alani and the second one Pendles. The wait won't be so long for Ernest, who is showing up less than a month after my favorite s??nake assassin. The demolition bird will be available for season pass holders on August 25, while the general ??population will have to wait until September 1 to unlock him.

As with the other downloadable characters, unlocking Ernest requires either a Hero Key (provided in a season pass) or 47,500 in-game credits, which is a ?non-negligible sum. (It comes out to being about 30-50 hours of play time, depending on which mode is played and whether victory is achieved.) Thankfully for those who want to get to blowing stuff up soon, a Double Credits Weekend is planned starting t??omorrow and running until Monday. So it should be possible to grind out a good chunk of the money necessary to save for when he drops.

As far as Ernest himself, we'll learn more about the 28th Battleborn hero in a stream later today on Gearbox's Twitch channel. One interesting point in th??e blurb we have so far is that he brings "a new means of support and defense." Just from his look I wasn't expecting him to be a support character, although his faction the Peacekeepers is notably the only one missing a healer of some sort. We shall see.

There still hasn't been much word on the first paid story DLC for Battleborn, which was tentatively planned for "late summer." Not much time left to hit that window!

Ernest Release Date & Double Credits Weekend! [Battleborn.com]

The post Battleborn’s Ernest is only a week away for early access appeared first on Destructoid.

It's possible

Ah, Battleborn. It's one of those games ?that isn't as bad as you hear, but still managed to come in below the ?monumental expectations it set.

Take-Two seemingly agrees from a financial perspective, stating that it performed "below expectations," despite "solid reviews." The publisher notes that there is still "an opportunity to grow the audience over time though," which sounds suspiciously like a shift into the free-to-play Evolve 2.0 system. I mean, the core game mode is based around MOBAs, it wouldn't be hard to grant early adopters a?ccess to every current character, and make everyone else free-to-play.

Still, Take-Two isn't saying anything just yet, and is simply noting that it's a "transparent company" and wants people to know where Battleborn is at. The next step of course is to add in microtransactions, and I assume if that doesn't work after a specified amount of time -- that's when it might go free-to-play. Or shut down? entirely, who knows.

Battleborn Sales Below Tak??e-Two Expectations, But Company Not Giving Up [Game Informer]

The post Take-Two says Battleborn performed ‘below expectations,’ stops short of saying it will go F2P appeared first on Destructoid.

My new favorite assassin

The 27th Battleborn hero Pendles becomes available for the general public on August 4 (to purchase with a non-negligible sum of in-game currency), but he has been available for season pass hol?ders for the past few days now.

I took the stealthy snake through a few story missions and a bunch of competitive multiplayer, and he is now my favorite assassin, if not my favorite overall character ?to play.

Pendles isn't the only character to have a cloaking ability, but unlike all the others (Oscar Mike, Shayne and Aurox, Deande), his isn't time-limited or tied to a skill cooldown. Any time Pendles breaks line of sight with enemies, he goes invisible and remains that way until he attac?ks.

On top of that, his Smoke Bomb ability drops an area that deals damage over time and puts him back into cloaking regardless of l?ine of sight. The huge difference this makes compared to the other stealth characters is he doesn't have to choose whether he needs stealth as an initiation or as an escape. He can go invisible by breaking line of sight, creep up on an unsuspecting sniper or weakened enemy, get the kill, then drop a Smoke Bomb to make an escape.

Pendles has a significant weakness: whenever he's uncloaked, his speed drops to the lowest in the game. Coupled with his low health pool, it makes him extremely vulnerable when he i??s visible. To give him a fighting chance at taking down targets from stealth, his second ability Injection slows targets for a few seconds. It isn't enough to keep a full health enemy from running away, but it's plenty to keep anybody in range in o?rder to get a killing blow.

His Ultimate ability surrounds him with a poisonous aura that reduces the cooldown on Injection. He can activate it while cloaked, but it gives his position away to enemy players. It's still enough to fool the AI, so it can be used ?as an easy minion wave clear or as an amplification of his damage in assassinations.

Though he initially appeared built for competition, Pendles is also surprisingly effective in the campaign. Smoke Bomb and Miasma work well against swarms of small enemies, and both keep hi??m cloaked. Injection can be even more satisfying; it will one-hit kill most small enemies, so if nobody else is around it's possible to use it to break stealth, then immediately go back invisible via his passive ability.

Certain encounters play out totally differently since he can s??tay cloaked indefinitely. The bridge encounter in The Algorithm usually requires a Marquis, Toby, or Thorn to deal with the Deadeye snipers on the towers. With Pendles, I was able to sneak up on each one and take them out without any trouble. He might also become a favorite for speedrunning and/or farming bosses for legendary gear, since he can simply bypass so many encounters instead of battling through minor enemies.

Still, the competitive multiplayer is where Pen??dles shines. I've probably killed more enemy Battleborn who were trying to teleport back to base or browsing their Helix skills in the past few days?? as Pendles than the rest of my time with all the other characters combined. Aside from the obvious utility in taking enemies by surprise, some of my favorite things to do with his perma-stealth are taking out back end buildables unmolested, clearing minion waves before they're even close to the front line, swiping enemy shards to starve their economy, and even stealing a mercenary camp out from under a dumbfounded Montana's nose (video below).

With Pendles in play (and with the popularity of any newly-released character), some of the other characters have seen a bump in usage. Since an uncloaked Pendles is a severely disadvantaged Pendles, reveal abilities ar?e paramount, so characters like Ambra and Toby are more useful now than they were. Playing against Pendles is pretty fun; it keeps me on my toes when I know there could be an ?invisible snake anywhere on the battlefield.

As a personality, Pendles is fun, but not a standout. He's a cold-blooded contract killer with an Australian accent, which has to be a nod to Team Fortress 2's Sniper. I haven't he?ard ?any hilarious lines, but he doesn't grate on the nerves, so it's at least a partial success on that front.

I've been having a ton of fun with Pendles, and I don't think it's just ?because he's new. While I've tried and failed at being an assassin as Deande, I've found Pendles to suit my natural play style much better. He's a sneaky snake, and I love him for it.

The post Battleborn’s Pendles is a slippery sneak appeared first on Destructoid.

Is the third bird to join the crew

Rogue assassin Pendles is out today for season pass holders, but 2K and Gearbox are already looking ahead to the 28th Battleborn hero to add to the roster, Ernest. There were some rumblings and dataminings about him previo??usly, but now it's official.

From the looks of the teaser image, Ernest will be the sixth character from the Peacekeeper faction (leaving only the LLC and the Jennerit factions for the last two), and he's sporting a six-chamber grenade launcher, à la Team Fortress 2's Demoman. He also ha?s a big, glowy egg on his back, which I can only specu?late is some sort of nuke.

There's no word on where Ernest fits in the feud between the two other bird characters Toby and Benedict. He appears flightless like Toby, but much less adorable. His primary weapon seems more like Benny's rocket launcher than Toby's railgun and he appa?rently wasn't denied a combat position by the UPR, so it's likely Toby will resent him as well.

Battleborn [Twitter]

The post Battleborn’s next hero Ernest channels TF2’s Demoman appeared first on Destructoid.

July 28 for season pass holders

It has been almost two months since the release of Alani, the Eldrid healer and 26th Battleborn hero. The small community of people still invested in Gearbox's FPS/MOBA h?ave spent a lot of that time wondering "When are we going to g??et Pendles?" The answer is: soon.

Those with the season pass will get the Rogue stealth character in one week on July 28, with a hero key available to unlock him immediately. Pendles will be available for the general public a week after that on August 4, but like Alani he will be locked behind a 47,500 credit wall. It's technically possible to earn enough to do that just by playing, but it's a substantial total, so it would be wise to save up, even though the Lootpocalypse's discounted loot packs are currently in effect.

In addition to the news about the next hero, a new set of summer-themed skins will be releasing, including a Super Soaker-themed Montana, a hula dancer Ambra, and a balloon animal Aurox. These are premium, so expect to pony up real life money in ord?er to show ?off some summer skin.

The post Battleborn’s 27th hero Pendles releases on August 4 appeared first on Destructoid.

Less than three months after launch, too

Much ado has been made about Battleborn's fledgling player count, a statistic that's especially worrying given that the game launched less than three months ago. Tha??t number's bound to increase now, all thanks to a particularly fantastic Humble ?Bundle.

Games by 2K are the star of this week's Humble Bundle, and Battleborn is the newest of the wares. It's sitting in the $15 category, a 75 percent discount over the $60 asking p?rice on Steam right now. That's pretty cheap.

But, it's not even that much. Spending $15 gets access to Battleborn, but it also nets you all the other games in the sale right now. It comes with the entire $1 tier (The Darkness II, Spec Ops: The Line, and Duke Nukem Forever), the "pay more than the average tier" which is $6.89 at time of writing (Civilization V, NBA 2K16, and Mafia II), and the other game in the $15 tier (Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel).

Really, this reeks of a last-gasp effort on 2K's part. It's clear that no one's buying Battleborn. Maybe the publisher can make a few extra bucks on it while it's still somewhat relevant. After that, don't be surprised if we see Battleborn go the way of Evolve on PC.

Humble 2K Bundle 2 [Humble]

The post Battleborn is insanely cheap in this week’s Humble Bundle appeared first on Destructoid.

Monuments, Outskirts, and Snowblind

Battleborn just celebrated the Lootpocalypse (recently extended for another week), wherein bosses were dropping legendary gear more frequently and loot packs cost less in-game currency to purchase. It had the effect of filling up the campaign matchmaking with players hunting for sweet loot to use in the competitive multiplayer. Soon enough, there will be more reason to dip over onto the player vs. player side of things; three new maps are releasing this Thursday.

Each multiplayer mode is getting a new map. Incursion gets Monuments, its second map set on the lush planet Ekkunar. Meltdown rounds out its location?s with Outskirts, set in a city on the purple industrial planet Tempest. Finally, Capture gains Snowblind, its second map set on the icy moon Bliss. Maybe it's the mild OCD in me, but I wish Snowblind and Monuments had their settings switched, so each mode would have one map on each ??planet.

From the official Battleborn blog post, it sounds like the level design team has taken care t??o include elements in each map for all the different types of characters. There are skill jumps that offer different paths for your ISICs and Attikuses, there are sniper perches with high visibility for your Marquises and Thorns, and there are stealth-friendly backdoors for your Oscar Mikes and Deandes.

These thre?e ma?ps are going to be available for free. We'll see if that's enough of an incentive to get people to join the Capture matchmaking queue to actually try out Snowblind.

The post Three new Battleborn multiplayer maps coming this Thursd??ay appeared first on Destructoid.

Because that's what it needs

A few weeks back, Gearbox increased the drop rate of legendary gear in Battleborn's campaign mode. This we??ekend, it's cranking the dials even further in what it's calling the "Lootpocalypse." Not only will bosses be even more likely to drop legendary stuff through Monday, but non-boss major enemi?es will have a chance to drop rare and epic-level gear as well.

Those who mainly play in the competitive mode won't be left totally out in the cold, as purchasable loot packs will drop in cost?, most notably the faction-specific packs that can contain (relatively bland) skins and taunts.

It's a nice gesture to those who are still playing, but I doubt it'll be enough to draw new players in or bring any who abandoned it back. Player population is still the biggest problem facing Battleborn as a multiplayer-focused game right now; this will likely? just be a few drops in the bucket toward alleviating that issue.

What may help is the introduction of the three new planned multiplayer maps, which Gearbox intends to show off later today during its Twitch stream.

Battleplan #10 7/14/16 [forums.gearboxsoftware.com]

The post Battleborn’s ‘Lootpocalypse’ promises increased gear drops this weekend appeared first on Destructoid.

I will never let this die

Two years ago today, Randy Pitchford unleashed this gem unto the world.

Last year, we celebrated its stilted beat poetry by writing our own Pitchford-esque prose.

This year, we have the advantage of actually having played Battleborn, so we can examine it clo??sely to see ju?st how accurate the original assessment was.

Battleborn is...

FPS: Well, yes and no. It is definitely controlled from a first-person perspective. A character like Oscar Mike does nothing but shoot; he aims and shoots his primary weapon, he shoots grenades as a cooldown ability, and he shoots a laser to call down his airstrike ultimate ability. But then there are characters like Rath and Phoebe who only occasionally shoot stuff (on cooldown), and characters like Kelvin and El Dragón who never shoot. It might not be a strict first-person shooter for all 26 characters, but it's a first-person somethinger. Which I guess is still "FPS," so w?e'll call th?is one a pass. B+

hobby-grade: I'm still not sure. We can take "hobby-grade" to mean people are meant to treat this like Destiny, where people don't just come home from work to play video games, they come home to play Battleborn. It's not "which hip new game are you going to play tonight?" It's "are you going to play Battleborn story mode or competitive mode tonight?" And if that's what's meant by "hobby-grade" then it seems like most players disagree. On Steam, the peak player count in the past 24 hours hit a whopping 641. Yikes. That said, it seems like the people who are into it are really into it, so for so?me, "hobby-grade" might just be correct. ?D-

coop campaign: Nope. I've played through the whole thi?ng and there wasn't a single piece of chic??ken housing featured. F

genre-blended: Yes, but what game today isn't genre-blended? You've got your roguelike fantasy dating sims and your survival crafting metroidvanias. Heck, it's rare for a new game to come out that doesn't make people want to describe it with "It's like X and Y had a baby!" Battleborn is a MOBA played fr?om a first-person perspective and it has a story mode. Sure, that counts. A

multi-mode: Technically, yes. There are multiple modes. There's the episodically divided campaign mode and there's the MOBA-esque adversarial mode, and the two require different styles of play. Within the player-versus-player stuff, there are (currently) three modes to play, however with the recent changes to matchmaking, it's long odds to play anyt??hing other than Incursion on Overgrowth. There are so many modes to think about while playing Incursion on Overgrowth. (Admittedly, the matchmaking changes are set to be reverted soon.) B-

competitive e-sports: It seems unlikely at this point. It's a shame, because mechanically Battleborn would work as an eSports venue. It's deep and tactical, it rewards coordinated team play, and it requires raw thumb skill as well. It's not difficult to imagine an alternate universe in which Battleborn is prominently featured in MLG tournaments; it would have?? only needed to maintain the volume of players it started out with. C

meta-growth: 

A+

choice: Undoubtedly. Battleborn is filled with choice. Do you want to shoot this person or stab him? Do you want to pick the skill that will help you win the match or the one that will unlock a piece of lore? Do you want to play Miko and only throw kunai while never healing your teammates or actually be worthwhile and helpful? The choice is yours. Seriously though, this is one piece we cannot deny. There are 26 heroes, each with a unique hook (figuratively and literally for Ghalt). ?Each hero can be built up in a few different directions, so there's something for a variety of moods. B+

epic Battleborn Heroes: This has always been the given. The heroes in Battleborn are, by default, Battleborn heroes. The question here is: are they epic? By the classic definition, I'd say... maybe? There is a good chunk of lore in the universe, and it's feasible to imagine poems written about the heroes' exploits leading up to and including the defense of Solus from Rendain and the Varelsi. I'd say it's on Gearbox to write those epics and prove Pitchford right, though that may be a taller order now that lead writer Aaron Linde left the studio. B-

Overall, the Pitchford tweet isn't too far off the mark. He nails some aspects of Battleborn, but he also highlights some of its greatest weaknesses. Yes, there are modes. Yes, there are heroes. Yes, meta-growth, probably. But the downfall is in the choice. Gearbox gave people the choice o?f whether to be a part of a vibrant online gaming community, and the people have chosen. C+

The post Two years later, we can objectively examine Randy Pitchford’s unintelligible Battleborn tweet appeared first on Destructoid.

It was already set up for it

Gearbox is pulling a Garden Warfare 1 -- in that it launched its game without microtransactions, but is adding them in several months later. The culprit? Battleborn, which is getting a new premium currency system called "Platinum" on June 16. I mean the game was basically already s??et up for it as it is, so this makes perfect sense, especially if sales aren't up to par.

In short, it will allow you?? to buy new skins and taunts, which will arrive for all 26 heroes on that date, with more to come in the future. Gearbox maintains that this will all ??be "cosmetic and optional." To make up for it, DLC packs will include more skins that can be unlocked by way of the campaign.

If you'?re confused, consult the handy FAQ on the official site, or below.

The Vision for Battleborn's In-Game Marketplace [Battleborn]

When will skins and taunts be available in the Marketplace? June 16th, 2016

How much will Platinum Packs cost (USD)?

• $1.99 for 230 Platinum
• $4.99 for 700 Platinum
• $9.99 for 1625 Platinum
• $19.99 for 3500 Platinum
• $49.99 for 9300 Platinum

How much will skins cost?

• Skin: 420 Platinum 

How much will taunts cost?

• Taunt: 230 Platinum

The post As expected, Battleborn is getting microtrans?actions appeared first on Destructoid.

Returning home for new opportunity

Battleborn lead ?writer and former Destructoid editor Aaron Linde has le??ft Gearbox Software. 

"Tomorrow's my last day at Gearbox" Linde tweeted Thursday. "Absolutely love this team and am incredibly proud of the work we did together." As part of the departure, Linde is al??so quitting Texas to head back to hi??s native Pacific Northwest to pursue an "awesome [new] opportunity."

Linde joined the Frisco-based studio in 2013 after previously working on Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor at Monolith Prodocutions, Microsoft Studios' Gears of War 3, and his own Bonerquest.

Battleborn released early last month for PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One. You can find our full review of the "hobby-grade coop campaign; genre-blended, multi-mode competitive e-sports; meta-growth" first-person shooter right here.

Aaron Linde [Twitter (2)]

The post Battleborn writer and old friend Aaron Linde leaves ??Gearbox Soft??ware appeared first on Destructoid.

Battlebombed

When Battleborn launched a few weeks ago, the response was uh… muted, to say the least. At best it’s an okay FPS-MOBA hybrid, at worst it’s not much more than a wet fart in a lift. It’s also leaking players like there’s no tomorrow,?? despite the price being slashed by almost half so soon.

At the time of writing, Battleborn has 2,434 concurrent Steam players and is, according to Steam Charts, the 103^rd most played game on the platform. Considering how recently the game launch??ed, and how much pre-release hype Gearbox was trying to build for it, it’s definitely not a good sign for its future.

It looks even worse when you consider what’s in 102^nd place. EVGA PrecisionX 16, a program that helps you overclock your graphics card that launched almost two whole years ago now, has 2,448 “players.” It’s a handy and free tool for Nvidia graphics cards owners, sure, but there're numerous alternatives to it out there that ??aren’t on Steam. For a recent major release to be less active than it is pretty embarrassing.

Other things that are proving more popular than Battleborn are Worm.is: The Game at #91, Shakes and Fidget at #66, Youtubers Life at #54, and Spacewar at #39. Spacewar isn’t even available through the Steam store, ?it's a sample game offered for Steamworks developers!

At this time, we must be sympathetic because I’m sure this is a tough time for the Battleborn fan base. All three of them must be hea?rtbroken to see the game peter out so quickly.

The post A graphics card overclocking program has more Steam users than?? Battlebor?n appeared first on Destructoid.