While Borderlands 3 has largely been considered an improvement over prior entries, its presence has now hindered the existence of its prequels. According to recent reports, an update with ads for the game have made Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel completely unplayable.
A Reddit post by user Dookarion told fellow fans that the latest update to both games would force players to create new usernames before allowing them to play the game again. The update also included new advertisements for Borderlands 3, which recently revealed its Steam release date. After the update's release, it was immediately met with fan backlash and criticism.
According to the Reddit summary and an in-game notification, Gearbox's changes introduced a SHiFT system to Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. This new system will control and "centralize" multiplayer sessions, and Gearbox claims that SHiFT will be necessary for both matchmaking and playing across platforms. As previously mentioned, SHiFT requires players to adopt new usernames. Even if a player has no plans to play multiplayer, Gearbox's update locks the game until the player complies. However, the latest updates' improvements have failed. Since the patch, players have complained that both compatibility between PC and Mac systems and SHiFT matchmaking have failed to work.
Borderlands 2 and TPS updated the other day to force new "SHIFT" system for "crossplay" and push Borderlands 3 advertisements. from pcgaming
Immediate user responses accused Gearbox Software of sabotaging its previous products to drive people to purchase Borderlands 3. While this claim was bolstered by user reports of disruptive banner ads for the game on various menus, another alternative speculates that every game in the Borderlands series is being changed to the SHiFT system to move the multiplayer infrastructure away from Steam in favor of other platforms. This theory is supported by Borderlands 3's initial Epic Games Store exclusivity and Gearbox's recent activities on other systems, like Google Stadia.
Overall, Gearbox's newest update illustrates the disadvantages of a fully digital game. After a player has purchased a game, there should be almost no reason for the developer to be able to revoke access to the product. Even if one considers the sale of the game to be the sale of a live service, this update is a failure to provide the service that was paid for. While the Borderlands 3 Spring 2020 roadmap has already been revealed, one hopes that Gearbox makes room to fix the damage that SHiFT has left in its wake.
Borderlands 2 is out now for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Source: Dookarion