On March 13, the shooter Borderlands 3 finally appeared on Steam. It was received very well and was used by nearly 100,000 players simultaneously on March 15. Not bad for a 6-month-old game.
Why did Borderlands 3 only appear on Steam now? In April 2019, the publisher 2K Games announced the release date for Borderlands 3. It was set to be September 13, 2019. At the same time, the press release confirmed that the shooter would initially launch exclusively on the Epic Store.
The exclusivity lasted for 6 months, until March 13, 2020. That’s why the long-awaited release on Steam only occurred now. Some players had announced in advance that they would boycott the release on Epic and even bombarded the reviews of previous titles in the series.
But could the players really hold back?
How did the release on Steam go? During the first weekend after the release on Steam, a peak of 93,597 players were online in Borderlands 3 at the same time. On average, there were 66,125 concurrent players (via Steamcharts). These are very strong numbers.
This puts Borderlands 3 on par with
- the successful title Rust on Steam (97,340 at all-time peak via Steamcharts)
- and Rocket League (102,684 at all-time peak via Steamcharts).
Even compared to the titles in its own series, Borderlands 3 is doing really well on Steam:
- Borderlands 2 had an all-time peak of 123,596 players (via Steamcharts)
- Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel reached only 67,244 players (via Steamcharts)
- The Borderlands GOTY edition had 23,443 players (via Steamcharts)
Borderlands 3 starts off well – but why?
Why are many players buying Borderlands 3 on Steam? With the release on Steam, Borderlands 3 received a significant discount. While you would have to pay €59.99 in the Epic Store, the shooter costs only half on Steam.
Additionally, a mega-bundle with 54 items is being offered, including other Borderlands titles and their expansions. The package costs €62.16 instead of €325.16 if purchased individually. These are good deals.
Moreover, the release of the new DLC is coming soon. Also, a roadmap has already provided insights into the upcoming development of the shooter. New and often free content is therefore guaranteed.
Did many players hold back for Steam? In advance, there were some calls for boycotts against the release on Epic. But Borderlands 3 was still a massive success:
- Within the first 5 days, Borderlands 3 sold over 5 million copies.
- It was the fastest-selling title in 2K’s history.
- It was the game that had been pre-ordered most frequently in the 2K Games Store and also in the Epic Games Store.
It is difficult to say how many sales were made on consoles and how many in the Epic Store. However, unlike Red Dead Redemption 2, it doesn’t seem that many players refrained from purchasing specifically for Steam.
- Epic is constantly trying to steal customers from Steam. But Steam continues to break records.
- However, Epic has other legs to stand on, including its own engine. They are also trying to make games look even more realistic soon.
