When a game commits itself to functioning mostly online, it’s also betting that it’ll be popular for a long time. Unlike a singleplayer game, a multiplayer game can quickly become expensive to keep up if it’s not successful. Servers don’t pay for themselves. That’s the unfortunate truth that became clear to Gearbox in the wake ofBattleborn.Although many people may largely have forgotten aboutBattleborn,it was around for more than four years. However, those days are over. At the end of January, Gearbox officially shutteredBattleborn,deactivating the game’s servers and thankingBattleborn’s fans for years of devotion.
Battlebornwasn’t exactly a commercial success, but that isn’t entirely its own fault. It just happened to come out at the wrong time. Initially,Battlebornwas unique for belonging to a rising game category: a hero shooter, combining the character selection of MOBAs with FPS gameplay. Unfortunately for Gearbox,Blizzard just so happened to releaseOverwatchright around the same time. It goes without saying thatOverwatchwas a huge commercial success at launch, and still maintains lots of active players. It’s so successful that Blizzard is ramping up to releaseOverwatch 2.Battleborn,meanwhile, has been left in the dust.
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Struggling to Compete Against Similar, Better Games
Battlebornnever really recoveredfrom the unfortunate timing ofOverwatch’srelease. Although it drew a sizable community at launch, the player base cratered as soon asOverwatchlaunched. This could be partially because ofBattleborn’s complexity, which many critics had mixed feelings on.Battleborn’s mechanics had a lot of depth for die-hard fans to appreciate, butOverwatchwas significantly more beginner friendly. The developers at Gearbox were naturally desperate for a fix, since they would presumably lose a lot of money on the game ifOverwatchkept drawing new players over. That’s whenBattleborntransitioned to a largely free-to-play model.
For a while, the game sustained itself in this way. Gearbox introduced various microtransactions for things like cosmetics, trying to draw in new players with a free game and encourage them to stay with in-game investments. Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to bring the game back to life. Only a year and a half afterBattlebornlaunched,Gearbox announced that the gamewas receiving its last patch. The studio would only keep enough staff on hand to maintain the game as necessary; there would be no new content forBattleborn.The game persisted this way for a few years before finally fans learned it would be officially shut down in 2021.
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End of an Era for Gearbox
Battlebornfans have knownthis day would come for a long time now. The game’s shuttering was announced in 2019, so they’ve had plenty of time to say goodbye. Bit by bit, purchases related toBattlebornhad been disabled, and now the servers are permanently closed.Battleborn’s remaining community may have been small, but they were certainly devoted to the game.Battleborn’s subreddit is now filled with tributes to the game and expressions of gratitude for the friends and memories made withBattleborn’s help.
It’s always a shame to see an online game close. Singleplayer games can always be revisited, but unless fans take it upon themselves to somehow developBattlebornfan servers, it’s gone for good. Reviews at its launch often agreed that there was a lot of depth to the game, but it just wasn’t very approachable, and it happened to release at the wrong time.Battleborn’s developers have lamentedits comparisons toOverwatchfor years, and now fans have seen the final effects of the battle for hero shooter supremacy.Battlebornmay not have been a success story, but it’ll still be missed. It had quite an impact on the community that learned to love it.
