Borderlands 3 Confirmed as an Epic Store Exclusive, Releases September 13

As excited as people may be to play the recently revealed Borderlands 3, they might not be able to purchase it through the storefront they would prefer. The game will be a timed exclusive to the Epic Games Store on PC.

Marked for release on September 13, 2019, Borderlands 3 will only be exclusive for six months, releasing on other storefronts in April 2020. 2K president David Ismailer talks about the game and their decision for the exclusivity deal.

"The PC gaming community has been an important part of the success of the Borderlands series, and we are excited to be partnering with Epic who recognize its worldwide popularity and share in our commitment to bring Borderlands 3 to this rapidly expanding audience. Our mission, in addition to delivering the most engaging and captivating entertainment experiences, is to embrace new distribution platforms that will contribute to our effort to grow the audience for Borderlands 3."

It doesn't take a market analyst or industry professional to know how bogus this claim is. You don't make a game exclusive to the currently most controversial game storefronts available right now because you want to be "delivering the most engaging and captivating entertainment experiences." There's no doubt that Epic Games and 2K worked out a private deal to make this happen. If they wanted everyone to enjoy the game, they'd sell it on all storefronts.

Epic has been acquiring a large number of upcoming games, making them exclusive to the Epic Games store, including high profile games like Metro: Exodus, The Outer World (except this will be on Microsoft Store as well), and the final chapter of The Walking Dead: The Final Season. This has caused a certain uproar with part of the gaming community. Many consumers either prefer the more-popular Steam storefront or have an active disliking for the Epic Games Store and its lack of support and features.

The only winners here are console players. Borderlands 3 will release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on the same day as the Epic Games Store PC release: September 13.