Just two weeks after its release, has the hype surrounding Borderlands 3 already fizzled?
According to Githyp, which analyzed Twitch views for Borderlands 3, the numbers plummeted two weeks after the release. From a peak of 205,794, the game now only has 8,600 average viewers per hour. In fact, the game has dropped out of the top 20 list for Twitch’s most-watched games.
Right now, the game is struggling at 30th place in terms of viewer rank. Nevertheless, from the time it was released, Borderlands 3 was already viewed almost 16 million times. That’s a massive dive from the dominant position it occupied on the first weekend of release.
This is a departure from Randy Pitchford’s tweet that reveals Borderlands 3 more than doubled Borderlands 2’s peak number. The data only took account of the numbers for PC users, however.
Fun Fact: On PC, the data is that the launch day peak concurrent players of Borderlands 3 is about *twice-as-high* as the all time peak concurrent players of Borderlands 2. WOW! You guys are great!
— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) September 13, 2019
Nevertheless, Gearbox has not released the numbers for Borderlands 3, so there’s no way to vet it. That means fans are expected to take Pitchford’s statement at face value.
Could Gearbox’s decision to release the game as an Epic Games exclusive could have backfired? It’s hard to see with scant details. It could just mean that Twitch users are not as keen on watching Borderlands 3, which explains the low views.
A statement from the company, however, claimed that the third installment sold five million companies in the first five days. The company also claimed that Borderlands 3 broke the record for digital pre-orders on the Epic Store. Also, PC sale was described by Gearbox as “incredibly strong.”
Meanwhile, Pitchford settled the lawsuit filed by former Gearbox attorney Wade Callender. The settlement was approved by the 162nd Judicial District of Dallas. In signing the settlement, the two parties also extended their regret over the misunderstanding. The two sides also asked the court to throw out the case “with prejudice.” In legal parlance, this means that any of the parties can’t go to court again for the same cause.
The statement said that the evidence is not enough to make Pitchford answerable to the allegations against him. However, the two parties were bound by confidentiality, so people are not likely to get the details of the settlement.
Borderlands 3 was released on Sept. 13 for Xbox One, PC, and PlayStation 4. The game will also come to Google Stadia. Although the cloud gaming platform will launch next month, it’s not clear when Borderlands 3 will be ported to Stadia.
