Genre-blended title faces its Waterloo
[Update:Upon review, I have altered the text to better reflect the amount of time developers spent pouring their talent and passion intoBattleborn’screation. I apologise for misrepresenting the situation. My intent was noble, but I should’ve put more thought into my choice of words.]
Gearbox’s multiplayer releaseBattlebornwill be taken offline later this month. The imaginative but unfortunately unsuccessful release will shut down its servers on January 25, rendering the game entirely unplayable, even in single-player mode.
Launching in May 2016 on PS4, PC, and Xbox One, Battlebornoffered players a selection of team-based multiplayer modes, featuring a roster of great-looking and creative hero archetypes. WhileBattlebornoffered a much different experience to that of Blizzard’sOverwatch– released mere weeks later – the latter title completely overshadowed and dominated Gearbox’s effort, essentially killingBattlebornright out of the starting gate.Battlebornwould transition to a free-to-play format in 2017, but by that point the iceberg was well in view.
In a mournful thread on Twitter,Battlebornwriter Aaron Lindelamented the impending shutdown, noting that a game developers had poured tireless days, weeks, and months of their lives into creating will simply cease to exist in its entirety. Linde’s thoughts offer a human reality to much of modern gaming. Where once today’s games were just tomorrow’s “retro releases,” Always-Online titles such asBattlebornwill essentially “vaporize”, consigned to be remembered in history books and the memories of those who experienced them.
For what it’s worth, I thoughtBattlebornhad a really great roster of characters, smartly designed and bursting with personality. But I also remember how foreboding the weeks leading up to its launch were, with the impending feeling thatOverwatch’spre-release marketing hype was too much to overcome. Ultimately,Overwatchwas the better game, but that doesn’t meanBattleborndeserved as harsh a fate as it received. Regardless, I doubt very muchBattlebornwill ever be truly “forgotten” in the annals of gaming. In the internet age, everything lives forever.
