Borderlands 3 studio claims it’s been blocked from adding cross-play on PlayStation

Borderlands 3’s long-awaited cross-play update appears unlikely to be made available on PlayStation consoles when it launches.

Gearbox Software CEO Randy Pitchford said on Thursday that the studio is technically ready to roll out cross-play for all platforms.

However, in a somewhat vaguely worded tweet, Pitchford claimed the studio has been “required” to remove cross-play support for PS5 and PS4.

“Good news or bad news first? Good News: An update for Borderlands 3 has been prepared for release that includes full crossplay support across all platforms,” he wrote. “Bad News: For certification, we have been required by the publisher to remove crossplay support for PlayStation consoles.”

It isn’t immediately apparent why cross-play support for PlayStation consoles looks set to be left out of the planned update.

However, Sony is reportedly the only platform holder that requires compensation for lost revenue during cross-play, and some fans have speculated that this could be behind the Borderlands 3 situation.

VGC has contacted Borderlands publisher 2K for comment on this report.

Prior to the game’s September 2019 release, Pitchford said Gearbox intended to offer cross-play support “as soon as practicable” and “on as many platforms as possible”.

Further reading

2

Sony ‘is the only platform holder that charges for cross-play’, Epic CEO claims

Tim Sweeney says PlayStation demands royalties for any lost revenue share

Take-Two called Borderlands 3 “2K’s fastest selling title” in its full-year earnings presentation this month, with the game having shipped some 13 million units to date.

The company also announced plans to launch a new Gearbox franchise during its current fiscal year ending in March 2022.