The only natural conclusion
Battleborn, already dead for all intents and purposes, will be officially dead in a year’s time. Gearbox’s doomed hero-shooting MOBA will be taken offline in January 2021.
2K Games has revealed its plans to pull the plug on Battleborn‘s servers at the beginning of 2021. When this happens, “Battlebornwon’t be playable in any way.” It has already been pulled from digital storefronts on Steam, the PlayStation Store, and the Xbox Store. In late February 2020, Battlebornwill no longer sell microtransaction currency.
The reasoning 2K gives is impeccable: It wants to “focus our efforts and resources on other projects.” Battlebornis not a game that deserves efforts and resources any longer. At time of writing, there are 15 concurrent players on PC according to Steam Charts. It hasn’t had a peak of more than 100 concurrents since May 2018 despite being free to play. Consoles add to that number, but not in any meaningful way that will keep the game alive.
Here we are, faced with an unceremonious end to a game that was never ceremoniously received. It feels misplaced to call this a tragedy or unfortunate or even just kind of a bummer — all those imply that someone cares. Battlebornwill die as it lived: With overwhelming indifference from nearly everyone. In 2023, you might remember Battlebornand think “Oh yeah, that was a game,” just as in 2018 you might’ve remembered Battlebornand thought “Oh yeah, that is a game.”
An Important Announcement About Battleborn [2K Support]