Battleborn’s Competitive Multiplayer Is Now Free-To-Play
Battleborn, Gearbox Software’s hero shooter meets MOBA, goes free-to-play starting today in what the studio is calling a “Free Trial” with no planned end date.
The Steam and Xbox One versions are free now. The PS4 version is free now in the Americas and will be free in Europe and Japan starting June 13, according to the company.
Players who download the free trial are able to choose from a rotating roster of 6 of the game’s 30 characters, taking them into battle across four competitive multiplayer modes (with a fifth on the way). Free trial players will earn character and command ranks just like paying players—only the character selection will be initially limited.
What the free trial does not include is any of the game’s cooperative story missions. In order to access story content, trial players will need to upgrade to the full game, though characters, cosmetic enhancements and boosters can be purchased a la carte via the in-game store.
Players who purchased the game prior to today’s free trial launch are rewarded with founder’s status, which includes
- 1,000 Platinum
- 50,000 Credits
- Exclusive “Founder” player title
- Gold skins for Mellka and Deande
- 5 Core Loot Packs
- 1 of each Command Faction Pack (5 total)
- 1 Exclusive “Founder Loot Pack”
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.
More info at – Source
