Borderlands 3 is one of this year’s highly anticipated titles, and fans of the franchise are hoping that they’d be able to play the game with friends, regardless of the platform, at launch. Unfortunately, a recent tweet from Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox Software, begged to differ.
As per Pitchford’s tweet, cross-play will not be available for Borderlands 3 at launch. While cross-play for the game on PC, the PlayStation 4 (PS4), and Xbox One has long been a goal many developers strive for, it’s clearly not something that is high Pitchford’s or Gearbox’s list of things to do.
Some folks may be speculating that this thing tomorrow may be about cross play. Tomorrow’s thing is awesome, but *not* about cross-play. But, Good News: We are committed to supporting cross-play for Borderlands 3 with our partners as soon as practicable after launch. #talklater https://t.co/XtUzrBpySP
— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) July 15, 2019
Of the three platforms, there is the possibility that Gearbox could be bumping heads with Sony over cross-play on the PS4. Sony has always been reluctant to embrace the idea of cross-platform gaming, and last year’s debacle with Fortnite is one example. The console maker was initially against the idea of allowing its player base from playing gamers on PC and the Xbox One, but finally embraced the feature back in September 2018.
There is some good news. In the same tweet, Pitchford says that he and Gearbox are “committed to supporting cross-play for Borderlands 3” and that it will be available as soon as it is practicable.
Borderlands 3 is slated for release on 13 September for PS4, Xbox One, and – much to the chagrin of many gamers – an Epic Games Store exclusive on PC for the first six months. After that, the game will be made available on other digital platforms, such as Steam and Google’s recently announced Stadia cloud gaming platform.
(Source: Randy Pitchford via Twitter, Hot Hardware)
