Seems like sometime in November is the plan
Gearbox Software’s MOBA-lite shooterBattlebornnever stood much of a chance. It released in the same timeframe as the likes ofOverwatchandDoom, and everyone’s collective interest gravitated toward those titles. Amid low player counts,early and aggressive saleswere staged. In an earnings call, publisher2K Games confirmedthat it performed below expectations.
As many predicted,Battlebornwill seemingly get a second shot in the free-to-play sector.Kotakureports it has a source that confirms this shift should take place in the next couple of months, probably by mid-November. This has allegedly been in the works for a while, and that the announcement has already been delayed a few times.
Interestingly enough, the Kotaku piece mentions Gearbox wantedBattlebornto be a free-to-play title all along. It was supposedly under insistence from 2K that it was sold as a full-priced retail product. That strategy obviously didn’t work, so it seems as if Plan B is to switch to what Gearbox wanted all along.
There’s recent precedent for 2K breathing new life into its games by going this route.Evolvewas recently re-branded asEvolve: Stage 2and made free-to-play. Initially,it shot up the Steam charts. At time of writing, it sits far lower (but still in Steam’s top 100 best performers of the day) with approximately 2,700 concurrent players. If this report pans out, we’ll see in due time whether or not free-to-play can work the same magic forBattleborn.
