Borderlands 3: No pay-to-win microtransactions, only for skins and cosmetics

Gearbox unveiled the Borderlands 3 gameplay in their reveal stream yesterday. Like the previous games, Borderlands 3 will return with the features of a 4 player co-op mode as well as offline play when necessary.

But it seems like for many AAA titles, the full $60 purchase is not enough and games seem to be riddled with microtransactions. Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford confirmed that Borderlands 3 will indeed have microtransactions.

Fortunately, the microtransactions will only be limited to cosmetics and skins. There will not be any crucial gameplay elements that you will need to unlock via grind or real money. Cosmetics will include vehicle, character and weapon skins.

Although Pitchford mentioned yesterday that "there’s not going to be any microtransactions, there’s not going to be any of that nonsense" and "there won't be any of that free-to-play junk", selling cosmetic items for transactions is technically still a microtransaction, which makes his statement a bit confusing.

But it seems like Pitchford meant games which prey on players wallets and make progression impossible without forking out money to progress further in the game. This is especially true in free-to-play mobile games and some games like EA's controversial Star Wars Battlefront 2.

Gearbox is focused on what made the previous Borderlands games as great as they were. Many old features are returning, the gameplay style is similar and many new features are also being added. Although PC players are upset that the game is an Epic Games Store exclusive, Gearbox is still moving in the right direction and setting up Borderlands 3 to be the classic Borderlands game that we all know and love.

Borderlands 3 will release on 13 September for Xbox One, PS4 and Epic Games Store on PC. PC players will have to wait till April 2020 to play on other platform other than Epic Games Store.