2K begins slow sunset of Battleborn
Free-to-play hero shooter will shut down virtual currency in February, game will remain live through January 2021
Gearbox's hero shooter Battleborn is now officially on its deathbed, though its end promises to be a long, drawn-out one.
In an official announcement today, it was announced that 2K is beginning the "process of gradually sunsetting Battleborn." That process appears to be a slow one, with the game losing virtual currency on February 24, 2020 and not officially shuttering its servers until January of 2021. The game has already been delisted from digital storefronts.
2K noted in the announcement that it was sunsetting Battleborn "to focus our efforts and resources on other projects."
Though no further detail was given on the reasons for the game's closure, Battleborn has fought an uphill battle at every turn since its 2016 launch, just a few weeks before its far more successful direct competitor, Overwatch.
Gearbox attempted to save Battleborn in 2017 by making it free-to-play, but the writing appeared to be on the wall as of a few months later when creative director Randy Varnell announced the team would no longer be working on new content.
Battleborn on Steam appears to have seen a peak of 38 players online at one time in the last 30 days, with its last peak over 100 all the way back in May 2018.