Borderlands 3 Cross-Play Is Now Live, But You May Be Unlucky
As promised earlier in the month, cross-play has arrived in Borderlands 3. The arrival of cross-play obviously means that people can play together regardless of their platform, but that's only true for most Borderlands 3 players. Unfortunately, it looks like those on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 are indeed being left out in the cold.
Of course, we had some indication that this would happen. Late last month, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford took to Twitter to announce that while Borderlands 3 would be getting cross-play, the update would not be coming to PlayStation consoles. "Good News: An update for Borderlands 3 has been prepared for release that includes full crossplay support across all platforms," Pitchford said. "Bad News: For certification, we have been required by the publisher to remove crossplay support for PlayStation consoles."
Good news or bad news first? Good News: An update for Borderlands 3 has been prepared for release that includes full crossplay support across all platforms. Bad News: For certification, we have been required by the publisher to remove crossplay support for PlayStation consoles.
— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) May 27, 2021
While Pitchford's tweet seems to suggest that 2K Games was behind the decision to exclude PlayStation consoles, we're still not entirely clear on what led to cross-play for PlayStation 4 and 5 being dropped. Unfortunately, Sony Interactive Entertainment boss Jim Ryan wasn't able to shed any light on that in a recent interview either, despite stating Sony's commitment to supporting cross-play in PlayStation games.
In any case, cross-play is live now in the Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Mac, PC, and Stadia versions of Borderlands 3. Cross-play is built using SHiFT matchmaking, which means that you'll need to create a Cross-play Display Name if you want to participate (something you'll be prompted to do the next time you log into the game). Other than that, cross-play in Borderlands 3 seems pretty straightforward.
Along with the cross-play update, Gearbox has also brought back the Revenge of the Cartels event, which will once again have you hunting down Cartel Operatives and completing challenges for cosmetics. Gearbox has also increased the Borderlands 3 level cap to 72, granting players a total of 70 skill points. The update also adds an option to turn on any of the three seasonal events (Bloody Harvest, Broken Hearts Day, and Revenge of the Cartels) whenever you want. More on the events coming along with this update can be found on the Borderlands website.