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Gearbox pull the plug on ill-fated hero shooter BattlebornAnother one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
Another day, another doomed hero shooter is condemned to the void. On Sunday, Gearbox Software said goodnight toBattlebornand shut the FPS’s servers off for good. They removed the game from sale a year ago, whenthey first announced they would be deactivating it. Now, it’s no longer playable at all - not even its singleplayer mode has survived.
The game came out in May 2016, and received its final updatejust over a year later. It wasn’t particularly badly received, though was criticised for being just a bit too much of a mishmash of genres - from MOBA, to hero shooter, with co-op story bits thrown in for good measure - and not really mastering any of them. Pip put it best in herBattleborn review: “For everything Battleborn does, another game does it better.”
Battleborn Launch TrailerWatch on YouTube
Battleborn Launch Trailer
Sadly, those players can no longer play any part of the game. Its singleplayer campaign was linked to its online functions, and now it’s all been switched off.
“Please note that the Battleborn servers have been deactivated and the game is no longer playable,“the devs said. “We’re extremely proud of the work that went into the game and want to extend our deep appreciation to the community.”
This isn’t the first online multiplayer game to go dark recently, but it lasted longer than most, at least. In 2020,Disintegration pulled the plugjust five months after launch, whileAmazon’s Crucible lasted about six. Then just last week,Ninja Theory announced they’ve ended content updatesfor their attempt at a hero shooter,Bleeding Edge.
I mentioned it in that Bleeding Edge post, but I truly do think it’s a shame that none of these games have managed to rival the likes ofOverwatchorDestiny 2. I’d love to see a game like Crucible or Battleborn come out and absolutely smack the bigguns down, but year after year they just seem to quietly fade into obscurity.
