Without a doubt,Borderlands 3is one of the most hyped games of this year, as many are looking forward to the threequel of the self-touted original looter shooter. Some of the reveals so far have been incredibly popular, such ashow theBorderlands 3guns work, but other decisions have not been, with the Epic Store exclusivity reveal receiving a lot of flak. This has led to review bombing of previousBorderlandstitles on Steam, which in turn solicited a response from Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford.
For those not in the know, Pitchford has praised the Epic Store in the past, so it should surprise no one that PC versions ofBorderlands 3will be an Epic Store exclusive(over competitor Steam) for 6 months. Pitchford insists that it is publisher 2K’s decision, but regardless of the decision-making, this hasn’t made a plethora of PC players very happy.
For one reason or another, many are reluctant (to say the least) about downloading another launcher, even for a title likeBorderlands 3. This then led a subset of players to review bomb the originalBorderlandsandBorderlands 2titles on Steam with negative reviews. It appears that it was first pointed out by the streamer OhNoPorkchop but then drew the attention of Pitchford himself.
In his response, Pitchford states that this review bombing is “ironically” having him “reconsider Gearbox Publishing’s current posture on the platform,” thereby suggesting thisBorderlandsreview bombing was not having the intended effect. But, in Steam’s defense, theBorderlands 3developer isn’t really accurate when he states that “Steam has no interest in correcting this misuse.”
Not too long ago,Steam created a tool to combat review bombing, and it has gone into effect concerning the reviews of the previousBorderlandstitles. This basically means that the review bombing was flagged as “off-topic reviews” that do not reflect if a person would enjoy a game and thus has no effect on the aggregate score of the title. In other words, Steam is attempting to combat the misuse and frustration of the scornedBorderlands 3PC community.
Borderlands 3launches September 13 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
