Earlier today, Gearbox Software's FPS game Battleborn became free-to-play on every available platform (PC, Xbox One, and PS4), in the Americas at least. The PS4 version of the game will become free-to-play starting on June 13th in Europe and Japan.

Claiming to be a free trial, anybody can download the game and play unlimited multiplayer matches.

Players can now pick up Battleborn as a free downloadable experience that grants UNLIMITED access to all competitive multiplayer gameplay modes and maps, without any time limits or level caps. To keep things fresh, there is a weekly rotation of six heroes from the roster of 30 total heroes. Progress with each hero and player account progression is also permanent, so when the same character comes back around players can pick them up where they left off. To download the Battleborn Free Trial, head to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or Steam store page and search for Battleborn. Each page has a “Try Now” button to download the Free Trial.

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This decision was probably made in order to combat the continually declining playerbase. The game itself never quite got the traction that it needed due in part to it being released around same time as other large titles, specifically Overwatch.

Prospective new players don't need to worry about being completed obliterated by pros online at this time, as Gearbox Software are also introducing a queue specifically for new players.

With the launch of the Free Trial, we’re also introducing a queue specifically for new players. This queue was created just for new and lower rank players to learn the ropes without being matched with more experienced players. Even if you’re a quick learner or an experienced MOBA player, we wanted to give you enough time to find your Battleborn play style and favorite heroes. Once a player masters Battleborn’s mechanics and reaches Command Rank 20, the Novice Queue will disappear and they be able to join other Battleborn players in the regular queues.

In addition, Battleborn recently added several new training modes to help new and old players get accustomed or re-accustomed to the game.

Already bought Battleborn? While you won't be getting a refund, you will be getting several in game perks as a way of thanking you for for your support. According to Gearbox, players who purchased the game are automatically bumped up to "Founder" status. Founders are given the following perks:

• 1,000 Platinum
• 50,000 Credits
• Exclusive “Founder” player title
• Gold skins for Mellka and Deande
• 5 Core Loot Packs
• 1 of each Command Faction Pack (5 total)
• 1 Exclusive “Founder Loot Pack” that includes…
  • 1 guaranteed piece of legendary gear
  • 1 guaranteed piece of legendary boss gear
  • 2 guaranteed pieces of common (or better) gear
  • Guaranteed exclusive legendary “Shard of Solus” gear item (a 0 activation cost LLC Shard Generator)
  • 4 guaranteed Flair items including exclusive “Founder’s Crown” Flair item

Source: Gearbox Studios News

 

[Social_Outlaw]

Why did it go F2P? Is this suffering the same fate as evolved?

 

[Saiyan Lusitano]

Let me get this straight, the full game's available for free and even with the single player story mode as well? Awesome.

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Why did it go F2P? Is this suffering the same fate as evolved?

Sales were shit like WiiU's. No one bought this game and the ones that did, probably thought it was Overwatch. lol

 

[Kioku]

Let me get this straight, the full game's available for free and even with the single player story mode as well? Awesome.

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Sales were shit like WiiU's. No one bought this game and the ones that did, probably thought it was Overwatch. lol

Competitive multiplayer only, apparently.

 

[BORTZ]

yay i'm a ****** founder.

You and me both

 

[Jayro]

I feel bad for those who just bought it at the $20 MSRP

 

[RedoLane]

Even though i'm already in Overwatch, can't say no to free games. At least it's not P2W.

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

So how good or bad is the game? I mean I never heard of this game before.

 

[HaloEliteLegend]

See, a few years ago, there was a void to fill in the cooperative FPS genre. Team Fortress 2 was the big boy in the market, virtually uncontested. Around this time, many studios latched on to the idea and, at the same time, began work on very, very similar titles with very, very similar themes: rosters of distinct heroes, TF2-like multiplayer modes, and team-based play. And then, beginning at once and ending at once, we got: Overwatch, Battleborn, Paladins. Each of these three games, while having their differences, share many common themes. I'm sure you've heard all three of these be called "clones" at one point or another. In reality, they're not clones at all. They all started development around the same time in response to a void in the gaming space that needed to be filled. None of them copied one another, but their line of thinking all led to the same result.

So then, how did Overwatch overwhelmingly win? Blizzard. With almost two decades of multiplayer gaming experience, they knew exactly how to engage fans, exactly how to build a dedicated community, and their brand name and brand recognition spoke for itself. When you heard that Blizzard was making a new IP, it was infinitely more exciting than hearing that Gearbox or Epic Games was creating a new IP. A decade+ of dedicated WoW, Hearthstone, Diablo, HOTS fans gave you the success of Overwatch. Overwatch, by and large, was successful because of Blizzard. Blizzard's gravitas in the gaming industry and their excellent knowledge of multiplayer communities almost guaranteed them the crown. It was no contest for the other two.

And that's why Battleborn is going free-to-play now. They have to at this point to remain somewhat competitive. Gearbox likely invested great time and money into this project and so they can't abandon it now or they're going to be in financial hot water. It really does suck, but they had the unfortunate luck of being placed in direct competition with Blizzard on a multiplayer-focused game. Ouch, talk about adversities.

 

[queendude]

Never heard of that game

 

[Pacheko17]

Just for PS4?
Oh well.
Even if it was for PC I wouldn't be able to play it, since it has no Linux support.

 

[ov3rkill]

Congrats to all the founders!

This game looks good and it looks it has a nice gameplay. Though, I haven't personally tried it. Might as well try it now.
Hopefully, it gets populated or at least it will have some cult following so it'll still be fun.
On other games, Strife was good too. Too bad it doesn't have players anymore.
There's just too many games and people are fragmented to play everywhere and everything from MMO to MOBA to FPS to real life, etc.

 

[RedoLane]

Just for PS4?
Oh well.
Even if it was for PC I wouldn't be able to play it, since it has no Linux support.

It's labeled as Free Trial on the steam page, with a optional paid full game upgrade.

 

[Tigran]

Still think Transformers Revenge of the Fallen was an excellent entry into this Genre that got sadly overlooked!

 

[WhiteMaze]

And welcome back to:

How Many Days Until it Becomes Pay 2 Win Show!!

Will Battleborn beat the previous 2 weeks record? Stick around to find out!

 

[Pluupy]

I thought this was some garbage F2P app from the artwork at first.

 

[Xeroyamil]

I'm a founder and also play OW. The thing about Battleborn that most attracted to me was its couch coop gameplay, something that I really wish was implemented in OW. My sister and I played a lot of Borderland, so was obvious that we got interested in Battleborn. In content, I like the campaing mode. But gameplay wise, I hate the DNA-layer level up system, something about it don't go out with me. If you have people to play with, you gonna have a blast. If you play it alone, it will be a let down.

 

[jimmyleen]

I wish people would stop paying for every mmo/free to play turd.

 

[netovsk]

Already got my money's worth on this game. Loved it but I'd rather dwell in unexplored territory for now.

 

[KingBlank]

Almost purchased the game for 5 bucks in a store the other day, I knew it would go FTP and that there would be benefits for people who purchased the game, but I did not expect it to go FTP so soon.

 

[Hells Malice]

lol this game just keeps getting better.

What a trainwreck...they were too greedy from the start and the game died in like a month.
It's not a bad game, but holy hell was it managed poorly.