Third installment in the Borderlands series arrives amid controversy

Griffin Hannahs, J1 Staff Writer

On September 13, 2019, Gearbox Software released Borderlands 3. The Borderlands series features first person shooter action with RPG element and is set on a distant planet where players seek out alien technology. The series is very popular, with one of the highlights being it’s humor. “Borderlands is my favorite series to play because it doesn’t take itself too seriously,” says sophomore Cooper Stockford. While the crude humor isn’t for everyone, it has been successful in drawing players in. The games are also well received because of their comic art style and gameplay. 

Borderlands 1, 2, and the Prequel were released on Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC (specifically the Steam launcher) respectively.  There actually is a small controversy surrounding Borderlands 3’s release: Epic Games made a deal with Gearbox to have Borderlands 3 be exclusive to their own launcher, the Epic Games launcher, for the next 6 months. This angered fans of the Borderlands series, because they were not wanting to get another launcher to play a game in a series that has been on Steam for about 10 years now. In response, most fans of Borderlands games turned to buying it on console. 

Others are choosing to wait 6 months for it to be released on Steam. “Borderlands 3 being releakie and Clsed exclusively on Epic Games is a disappointment,”  says Josh Hannahs. “Epic Games has created an anti-consumer situation with exclusivity similar to Xbox/Playstation exclusives. I have enough launchers already and will not install yet another launcher. If these game companies do not release it on other launcher, I will just not buy it. There are other games to play.”

Despite the controversy and overall negativity towards the situation, Borderlands 3 released with good reviews across the board. It received a 9/10 rating on IGN, with reviewers noting: “Borderlands 3 sticks to its guns and outdoes itself with an amazing arsenal of weapons, humor, and missions.” It also received a 95/100 on Metacritic, with reviewers stating: “Borderlands 3 has surpassed the bar that its predecessor had set. The story is grand in scale, the humor is on-point and updated to 2019, weapons are diverse and the new Vault Hunters are unique in every way. Every BL-fan must pick this game up.”