In news that would struggle to surprise even the late Cilla Black, Kotaku is reporting that Battleborn will be going free-to-play soon. This is something that Gearbox gaffer Randy Pitchford has already moved to deny, though his tirade of tweets are… Something to say the least. Writing on social media, the suit completely denied the report, before more or less validating it immediately afterwards.
"I was just told about a reckless story about Battleborn going free-to-play that is false," he wrote, before immediately following up with: "We have some unannounced plans to do a trial version of the game that would be free and from which retail can be purchased along with DLC."
Okay, so maybe both parties are right here. It sounds like the game won't be going free-to-play in the traditional sense we think about it, but more that a portion of the title will be given away, with those who enjoy it offered an upgrade path. DriveClub PlayStation Plus Edition is probably the closest example of what Pitchford seems to be alluding to.
The suit added that the dev doesn't have any details to share on what he's referring to as the "free trial version" just now, as it wants to finish up the release's DLC first. And yes, apparently Battleborn has been receiving regular add-on packs. Have any of you been playing them?
Anyone?
[source kotaku.com, via twitter.com]
Comments 21
Isn't that what a lot of free to play games do now anyway?
Paragon and kill Strain come to mind.
They need to stop with Battleborn, it flopped hard and they just don't want to admit it. They need to put this one out to pasture and get to Borderlands 3, that is where they will recoup the money lost on Battleborn.
It really is a fantasticly fun game.
Says likes Iwata's old comment, it isn't "free-to-play" it's "free-to-start". I prefer "demo" or "trial" myself.
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/here-s-why-nintendo-s-ceo-dislikes-the-term-free-t/1100-6426102/
Nintnedo released Fatal Frame under that term last year.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/next-fatal-frame-on-wii-u-is-free-to-start/0154836
I'm guessing the guy protesting was protesting free-to-play b/c he wants it labeled free-to-start.
Battleborn pulled their player count display on steam when it started dipping under 300 on average.
@Tasuki It may have flopped when it Comes to sales especially since its always compared with Overwatch which is a total different game with total different gameplay lol
a free Trial Version would maybe draw more Players in - as Long as the developers Support the community Im down - I just hope that the waiting time in the Lobby will be reduced at some Point with a patch ^^ and the character voices/lines they talk are annoyin af haha
Luckily with so many good games on the horizon this autumn, it's also free not to play
@Tasuki
The game is already out and paid for, maintenance can't be that expensive and not patching it and keeping the servers up would be disrespectful to the 23 people playing it daily. So I'd say just make it f2p and hope people will spend some money on it.
A "trial version" will probably be f2p with rotating characters that are free or 2 or 3 you're allowed to play, I don't understand why Pitchford has to "juggle" these terms again as if going f2p is such a bad thing. I don't see it as admitting defeat, it's just adapting to the reality of the current marketplace. But Pitchford thinks he's still the magician he once was; when he was pulling rabbits from hats he tricked people and was entertaining at it, but in this industry he isn't fooling anyone anymore after his many, many lies, tricks and cover- ups.
The subtitle of the article reminds me a bit of how we say 'yes' (translated: no, yes) or 'no' (translated: yes, no). When in doubt or when we totally agree with something that was said we even throw in the occasional "no... yes... no..." or "yes, no, yes!", so I guess we speak 'Pitchfordish'
They just need to sever ties with this game and move on.
Borderlands 3, please.
Battleborn is actually a decent game, and probably a f2p model would help the game .
Retail copies have plummeted in price really fast. I guess this is the next logical drop.
@consolfreak1982 Yeah I played it got bored fast and the waiting times for a match and i bought it on release. I loved the beta i hated the full game somehow. The biggest problem for me is that you can't switch characters in the match. So if you picked a character you hate or does not work for you or in the matchup it's a 30 minute waste of time. Thats my personal problem.
This is a decent game but suffered from the launch window. People made the mistake of comparing it to Overwatch they are different games and offer vastly differing styles. I am pretty angry that parts of it will trial the free to play model. A lot of people paid good money for this product and their reward is that others will be getting to play parts of the game for free.Seems like they will not even bother to wait a year after release before doing it. Atleast Evolve had the decency to wait years before moving to their new gaming model. I did not buy this game so others could play it for free.
If single player was offline I'd have been playing this for a while.
@dryrain You're losing nothing.
It's a little ironic that gearbox put almost zero work into Aliens but got tons of hype, then obviously put effort into this and nobody cares.
Releasing it almost at the same time as Overwatch killed it before it had a real chance. Shame really, the devs seemed so genuinely enthusiastic in all the pre-release interviews.
@seanobi Yeah, how dare they release a demo... SIIIIIIIIIGH
@consolfreak1982. I did the beta and I will admit it's fun. The only reason I didn't get it on release is because my game budget was tied up with Overwatch at the time. I understand they are different games but, being released so close to Overwatch I went with Overwatch first. Now, no offense but I am not going to pay for a game that has no player base. Perhaps if it does go F2P then I will jump in but as of now I have my gaming budget spread thin with Mafia III, RotTR, WWE 2K17 and CoD all releasing weeks apart.
If single player gets an offline mode, I'm in. I live in the sticks, and have satellite Internet. I can't just stay online, sadly.
@johncalmc I'm terrified that they'll stuff BL3 with microtransactions. It already has 3 currencies: $, Eridium and Golden Keys.
I'm even more afraid they'll make it some kind of Destiny clone.
I've always solo'd Borderlands games. I dislike the tons of bullet sponge enemies that spawn ib co-op, and dealing with more people not interested in RP(yeah, I RP in BL. I'm weird like that). If they push multiplayer more, I'll write it off.
TPS was balanced for a full party, so solo was a chore at times.
Gearbox is... Gearbox.
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