Battleborn Free Trial Launches Today, Offers 'Unlimited Competitive Multiplayer'
You'll get a weekly rotation of six heroes from the roster of 30. Don't call it 'free to play,' though.
Gearbox Software has announced Battleborn Free Trial, a free download available now that offers unlimited competitive multiplayer for the 2016 hero-based shooter.
Free Trial, free-to-play... Right? No. Yes. Kind of?
Battleborn Free Trial gives you access to all of the game's modes and maps without level caps or time limits. Each week Gearbox will offer a rotation of six heroes out of the 30 available. Progression with heroes and your player account will be permanent, meaning that even though you'll lose access to a hero when they fall off the rotation, you'll be able to pick up where you left off the next time they come around.
Xbox One and PS4 players will need an Xbox Live Gold or PlayStation Plus account to partake in Battleborn Free Trial.
All of this may sound like Battleborn is now free-to-play. That's because it is. Sort of. The rumor of Battleborn shedding its price tag started last fall when Kotaku published a report to that effect. Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford debated the semantics of the article. "I was just told about a reckless story about Battleborn going F2P that is false. There are no plans to convert Battleborn free to play," Pitchford said. "We have some unannounced plans to do a trial version of the game that would be free and from which retail can be purchased along with DLC."
Technically, Pitchford is correct. Gearbox isn't converting Battleborn to a F2P game; it's positioning the franchise as two products: Battleborn, and Battleborn Free Trial. Paying for the former gets you access to all 30 heroes. Or, you can stick with Battleborn Free Trial and experiment with each week's six free heroes to determine which one(s) you like best.
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replyDavid Craddock posted a new article, Battleborn Free Trial Launches Today, Offers 'Unlimited Competitive Multiplayer'
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That's putting it lightly.
I do recommend everyone give this a try though. It is a genuinely enjoyable game.
I hope I can finally find some full games again.-
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Well, the only part you get in the free trial is the competitive mp. You can play against bots I think in the free trial, but if you want the SP/Co-op you still have to pay for it.
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Yeah. I think the main thing with the free trial is finding out if you like the art, the feel of the game, and the style of play.
If you like that and Borderlands style co-op interests you, then the price for sp/co-op is going to be worth it for you. -
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Randy Pitchford's meltdown with a journalist over this is a ton of fun to read. Guy has some serious issues and shouldn't be in a public facing role at all... ever.
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Got a link?
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Here it is on the twitters! https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/872108662487232512
Just follow the replies. Basically Randy is arguing with a journalist who said 8 months ago that the game was going F2P soon.
Journalist said he was right and Randy is arguing that it is not F2P just an unlimited to play trial and that 8 months is not 'soon'.-
The SP and co-op content is still not free. That is actually fairly significant in this game and a noteworthy distinction.
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I haven't been in yet. Are they actually in separate queues? I thought I had read that they could choose to be in a newbie queue? It wouldn't help the population much to separate the F2P crowd.
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(Reading more, it seems they are forced into a separate queue until level 20. That is very much a bare minimum and I wouldn't have considered myself competent in the game until level 50ish. Still, that should help things so people don't feel overwhelmed by the veterans.)
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If I were you Dave, I'd have that "Battleborn Shutters Doors after 1 Month" loaded into the chamber.
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