Unfortunately, Battleborn couldn’t compete against Overwatch and its launch controversies, causing Gearbox to pull the plug early next year. Gearbox will begin the process of removing in-game purchases and taking the title offline in February of next year, with a full shutdown being completed by January 2021.
According to a new post made on the 2K Support Site, February 24, 2020 will mark the day where players can no longer purchase premium virtual currency. The servers at large will be then remain active until January 2021 while the team works on the total deactivation process.
For those that already spent virtual currency – or have plans to – players can still spend what they’ve earned, bought until the February timeline. Once January 2021 rolls around, everything will be completely taken down, making Battleborn completely non-playable and non-discoverable.
With games like the long-standing Team Fortress 2 and the hit billion-dollar franchise that was Overwatch that launched at the same time, Battleborn had a lot riding against it on those merits alone. Pair that with the constant controversies surrounding the game for “copying” Overwatch with near-identical characters and backstories, there was just too much negativity surrounding the shooter for it to truly thrive.
For now, players can still take part in what Battleborn has to offer on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. For more about the game before it’s gone for good:
“Experience a weekly rotation from 30 of the most unique cast of heroes ever assembled. Love a hero? Permanently unlock and customize your favorites via in-game purchases, or upgrade to the full game to unlock all 25 original launch heroes and the Battleborn PvE story mode, or the Season Pass to unlock all 5 post-launch heroes and story operations.”
