Borderlands 3 is getting crossplay except on PlayStation

Borderlands 3 players will soon be able to play with players on any other platform… as long as those platforms are not PS4 or PS5. The update will allow PC and Xbox users to play with one another. Unfortunately, Sony is still dragging its feet on allowing PlayStation players to interact with other platforms.

Good news or bad news first? Good News: An update for Borderlands 3 has been prepared for release that includes full crossplay support across all platforms. Bad News: For certification, we have been required by the publisher to remove crossplay support for PlayStation consoles.

— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) May 27, 2021

“Good news or bad news first?”, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford tweeted. “Good News: An update for Borderlands 3 has been prepared for release that includes full crossplay support across all platforms. Bad News: For certification, we have been required by the publisher to remove crossplay support for PlayStation consoles.”

It is not clear why Borderlands 3 publisher 2K Games would have requested the removal of crossplay. Considering that Epic Games had to pay Sony an additional fee to implement crossplay for Fortnite on PS4, it could be that 2K Games is scrapping crossplay on PlayStation to keep costs down. Still, since Sony’s PS4 crossplay feature left beta, many had assumed that arbitrarily gating players to their platform of choice in online multiplayer was a thing of the past.

We may need to wait for more clarification regarding why exactly crossplay has not been implemented for Borderlands 3 on PS4 and PS5. That said, we can piece together enough of it based on Sony’s prior behaviour regarding online multiplayer. Unless there is sufficient public pressure to change Sony’s decision, like with Fortnite, Borderlands 3 will continue to be a lonelier experience for PlayStation players. The crossplay update for PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S does not currently have a confirmed release date.