If the past few months have taught us anything, it’s that consumers never like it when games declare exclusivity of any sort to the Epic Games Store. Borderlands 3 recently did so, announcing that it would be available exclusively on Epic’s storefront for the first six months after its launch, and will be available on Steam starting April 2020.
That led to previous Borderlands games getting review bombed on Steam, predictably enough. That hasn’t gone down well with developer Gearbox (obviously). Recently, Randy Pitchord, CEO of Gearbox, took to Twitter to say that the review bombing of previous Borderlands titles on Steam and Valve having “no interest in correcting this misuse” might make their publishing wing reconsider their support in the future for the platform.
Obviously that no developer would be happy with the practice of review bombing, as well as the fact that Borderlands 3 going exclusive to the Epic Games Store was a business decision made by publishers 2K Games and not Gearbox themselves- in that, Pitchford’s frustration is understandable. That said, it’s worth noting that Valve not having any interesting in correcting the misuse of user reviews – as Pitchford puts it – isn’t exactly accurate, seeing as they recently put measures in place to counter review bombing practices.
Borderlands 3 launches on September 13 for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. It will be available on Steam starting April 2020.
Ironically, that this misuse is possible and that Steam has no interest in correcting this misuse makes me kind of happy about 2k’s decision and makes me want to reconsider Gearbox Publishing’s current posture on the platform.
— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) April 5, 2019
