It looks like there’s a very good chance that Borderlands 3 may launch exclusively on the Epic Games Store for PC.
Twitter user Wario64 spotted a Twitter ad for Borderlands 3 which revealed that the game would be coming to the Epic Games Store with no mention of the title making its way onto Steam. The video ad has since been deleted.
Borderlands 3 releasing on Epic Games Store (from a Twitter ad video that is now deleted) pic.twitter.com/d4v17GapWZ
— Wario64 (@Wario64) 1 April 2019
As expected, this has got many people thinking that Borderlands 3 will be released exclusively on the Epic Games Store, given that a Twitter ad was created solely to promote the game on Epic Games’ platform, with the absence of any Steam logos adding further speculation.
Not only that, but Gearbox Software CEO Randy Pitchford responded to the rumours about the game being exclusive to the Epic Games Store, and his response didn’t exactly seem to deny it.
He began by making it clear that any decision would have been made by Take Two interactive who have publishing rights for Borderlands 3, adding that Gearbox Software is not involved in any of those decisions.
2K/Take Two has exclusive publishing rights for Borderlands 3 and makes all decisions regarding price-points, territories, distribution and platform partnerships. Please direct all inquiries regarding any of those topics to 2K. We are *just* the talent. 1/3
— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) 1 April 2019
It then seemed as if he went on to defend exclusivity deals by adding that he himself was happy to shop in different stores and that games being exclusive to certain stores were fine if they came with advantages and were short.
As a customer, I’m happy to shop in different stores – already do! I’ve bought games from Xbox, Playstation, Switch, Steam, Origin, GOG, Humble, Uplay, Epic and other stores. To me, exclusives are fine when they come w/ advantages and when they are short – say, six months 🙂 2/3
— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) 1 April 2019
For what it’s worth, 2K’s decisions aside, myself and the team at Gearbox have a very keen interest in cross-platform play. We believe multi-platform support is a pre-requisite and Epic’s leadership with cross platform support is helpful to our interests there. 3/3
— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) 1 April 2019
As expected, the response to Pitchford’s comments was not well received with many on Twitter stating that the exclusivity deal would only hurt the game. There were also many who stated that they would be boycotting the game if it launches as an Epic Games Store exclusive.
Publishers of Metro Exodus and The Outer Worlds came in for a lot of criticism when they signed exclusivity deals with Epic Games earlier this year. Deep Silver, in particular, came in for the most flack after they made the decision to pull Metro Exodus for sale from Steam two weeks before release with the game then only being available on PC exclusively through the Epic Games Store.
This does not look to be the case with Borderlands 3 though as at present it is impossible to digitally pre-order the game anywhere. Therefore, if it was exclusive to Epic Games, it won’t have been offered for sale and promoted on other platforms such as Steam beforehand.
Overall, it’s not been the best 24 hours for Borderlands 3. Not only has the game been hit by criticism surrounding the Epic Games controversy, but the game’s official Twitter account also appeared to leak the games release date by accident. The Tweet, that has since been deleted, suggested that the game would be releasing on September 13.