Borderlands 3 Is Getting Crossplay Everywhere But PlayStation

Borderlands 3 Is Getting Crossplay Everywhere But PlayStation

More than a year after it was released, Gearbox’s cartoonishly violent loot-shooter Borderlands 3 is apparently soon getting crossplay for all platforms…except for PlayStation.

“An update for Borderlands 3 has been prepared for release that includes full crossplay support across all platforms,” Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford wrote in a tweet this morning. “Bad News: For certification, we have been required by the publisher to remove crossplay support for PlayStation consoles.”

As ever, it is not immediately apparent what the hell Pitchford means. But, as The Verge noted, the absence of crossplay on PlayStation 4 and 5 could be a result of Sony’s policy regarding crossplay certification. In 2018, Sony caved to requests and allowed crossplay between PlayStation games and versions of those games on other platforms, though the process didn’t exactly roll out smoothly. At the moment, Sony reportedly demands extra compensation to certify crossplay support, confirmed by testimony revealed by Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeny in this month’s hot-button Epic vs. Apple trial.

In 2019, before Borderlands 3 launched, Pitchford indicated cross-platform play would come to Borderlands 3. Last year, when announcing the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of the game, Gearbox kicked the can down the road a bit. As recently as February, players were inquiring about crossplay support.

Read between the lines all you want — about whether this was a result of Sony demanding exorbitant certification fees, 2K declining to pay those fees, or just Randy Pitchford being Randy Pitchford — at the end of the day, it seems like Borderlands 3 crossplay will only be available for PC and Xbox for the time being. Whatever the rationale, this amounts to a total bummer as Borderlands 3 plays far better on PS5 than elsewhere, thanks to the fancy adaptive triggers of the DualSense controller.

Sony, Gearbox, and Borderlands publisher 2K did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Kotaku.

 


The Cheapest NBN 1000 Plans

Looking to bump up your internet connection and save a few bucks? Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Kotaku, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

Comments


16 responses to “Borderlands 3 Is Getting Crossplay Everywhere But PlayStation”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *