This Week In The Business:  Good News For People Who Like Bad News


QUOTE | “Never fear! Battleborn is here to stay.” - Battleborn creative director Randy Varnell, immediately after announcing that the Fall Update is the final planned content for the game, and immediately before announcing he’s going to work on some other project now.

Read more...

Borderlands 3: 7 Things We DON’T Want


Gearbox Software’s Borderlands series is perhaps best known for its futuristic concoction of sci-fi, open world shooting, RPG elements and quirky personalities. Breaking into the game scene in 2009, Borderlands went on to receive generally favourable reviews from players, and Gearbox whipped up a sequel in 2012 that successfully dodged the ‘sequels are never as good’ trope.

In an interview with Polygon, Gerabox CEO Randy Pitchford shot down the possibility of a third Borderlands installment, but that decision has since been overturned. With no official reveal just yet, we’ve been forced to settle for teasers, like this message discovered in Battleborn DLC, and this development photo released by Pitchford himself.

As confirmed by publisher Take-Two, Borderlands 3 will likely release on PC in addition to Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Nintendo doesn’t seem keen on adding Borderlands 3 to its lineup on Switch, but anything could happen. In the mean time, we’ve been thinking about the things we’d love to see in Borderlands 3, as well as the things we don’t want. Here’s seven of them.

The post Borderlands 3: 7 Things We DON’T Want appeared first on Gameranx.

Gearbox Announces The Beginning Of The End Of Battleborn


Gearbox Software has had to make the tough choice of announcing that the beginning of the end is nigh for the company's multiplayer hero-shooter, Battleborn. The game only came out just last year but the studio is winding down development for any future updates for the first-person...

Battleborn's next update will be its last hurrah


Battleborn's next update will be its last hurrah screenshot

Gearbox's MOBA Battleborn will receive its final patch this Fall, ultimately pushing the ambitious but troubled online game into its 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 and 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 better", 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 title behind in order to move on to a "highly anticipated project" for Gearbox.

Randy Varnell Battleborn statement [Gearbox Forums]

Moving on: Gearbox winds down Battleborn development


Gearbox Software's hero-shooter Battleborn is effectively being laid to rest, as the studio prepares to wind down development. ...

News: No more updates for Battleborn, says Gearbox

Battleborn’s Next Update To Be The Last


Battleborn has gained a lot of attention recently – and not in a good way. The dismally performing title by Borderland’s creators Gearbox Software, launched last year alongside Blizzard’s Overwatch. The title plummeted almost immediately with a concurrent player base of under 100 gamers. Earlier this year the team decided to relaunch the game with a free-to-play model in mind – unfortunately, this strategy didn’t work either.

Now it seems the team is ready to accept defeat and throw in the towel. Creative director, Randy Varnell, has announced that the upcoming fall update will be the game’s last, as most of the developers are moving on to work on the “highly anticipated project” they talked about at PAX West, in other words, Borderlands 3.

That being said, if you are one of the few who actually enjoys the game, the servers will “be up and active for the foreseeable future” – there just won’t be any more content updates like skins, updated title art, and additional Finisher Boosts and Taunts.

How have you found Battleborn? Playing it or not? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Battleborn’s Next Update To Be The Last appeared first on Gameranx.

Blog Post: Battleborn Will Receive Its Final Update This Fall


Battleborn may not have been nearly as popular as its shooter/MOBA competiton, but it's been receiving regular content updates and changes. Back in June, it added a substantive free trial to get new players on board, as well as a new competitive multiplayer mode. Despite this and the efforts of players to keep the game alive, Gearbox is winding down on actively developing the game.

Speaking on the official Gearbox forums, Battleborn creative director Randy Varnell made the announcement that "there will be no more Battleplans and there is currently no planned content after the Fall Update," Varnell said. After that update, which adds Borderlands-themed characters skins, balance changes, and a new multiplayer map, the Battleborn team will shift over to working on Gearbox's next, unannounced game. "Although I’m sad my time on Battleborn is coming to a close, I’m happy to announce that I will play a significant role on this highly anticipated but unannounced game," Varnell said. "I’m sure you’ll be hearing some from me again in the future regarding Gearbox games."

Although it will not be receiving further updates, Battleborn servers will remain active "for the foreseeable future," according to Varnell.

 

Our Take
I'll be the first to say that I didn't love Battleborn (it was "alright" in a genre that demands more in order to keep players loyal), but it's still sad to a multiplayer game end its life. Some of the comments on Varnell's post left me wistful; although there aren't as many of them as Gearbox would have liked, people do still love Battleborn, and seeing them lose something they love is disappointing. C'est la vie.

Battleborn quietly closing down, 15 months after launch


No more updates, says Gearbox

Continue reading…

Battleborn's Creative Director Says Fall Update Will Be Its Last


Gearbox Software’s Battleborn shifts into the twilight years of its lifespan, as the developer announced today that there is no planned content after the upcoming fall update.

Read more...

Six Borderlands skins coming to Battleborn


Six Borderlands skins coming to Battleborn screenshot

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 sorry.)

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

Feature: LawBreakers fans on why you should play it, and what went wrong