The Epic Games Store reached new audiences for Borderlands 3, Gearbox says

Borderlands 3 launched as an exclusive title on the Epic Games Store for PC players, and Gearbox senior producer Anthony Nicholson has said that this decision brought the game to an entirely new audience of gamers (via PCGamesInsider.biz).

Though it also released for consoles, it is a timed-exclusive on the Epic Games Store until April 2020. When the news broke, it was considered to be a move that would limit its player base as plenty were put off. But, that hasn’t been the case. Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford claimed that Borderlands 3 achieved the ‘best numbers in Gearbox history’ on its launch weekend, using PC player statistics. 

And, Borderlands 3 outstripped Gears 5 by more than four times in UK retail charts across all platforms. Before you tell me that Gears 5 didn’t release for PlayStation 4 unlike Borderlands 3, the cel-shaded shlooter sold 77 per cent more units compared to the Xbox One alone. Nicholson explained that these incredible numbers are the sum of anticipation for a sequel and newcomers stumbling upon the game through the Epic Games Store. 

‘The appetite amongst fans was definitely there, but Epic have been great partners and have done a lot to help us reach new players as well,’ he said. Its success is cheering for Gearbox as it continues to support the game with events like Bloody Harvest and action-packed DLC in the future. Also, Nicholson credited the community surrounding the series as a motivating force to deliver a game deserving of their praise. 

‘A lot of that has to do with Borderlands 2. We loved and believed in the game back when it launched in 2012, but I’m not sure we could have anticipated the fandom that’s grown around it since then,’ he explained, describing fans’ dedication as ‘staggering and humbling’. 

‘That community has definitely kept enthusiasm for the franchise alive, and that’s likely encouraged more and more people to give the series a try. Add that to all the work our devs and marketing teams did over the last six months to get the game in front of so many people, and thankfully I think it added up to there just being a lot more Borderlands fans out there now,’ Nicholson concluded. 

Borderlands 3 was beleaguered with multitudes of technical issues that the developer is still addressing even one month after its launch on September 13. Despite this, Josh quite enjoyed his time gallivanting around the galaxy and described Borderlands 3 as ‘a jumped-up kid’s cartoon that’s snuck a few swigs of vodka and wandered into a porno theatre, mistaking a foul mouth for maturity.’