Upon hearing the news of the Fortnite X Borderlands 3 crossover, the more cantankerous segment of the Borderlands 3 community was quick to dust off their digital pitchforks and lament the ”corruption” of their beloved franchise.
Whiny Borderlands 3 Fans Aren’t Happy
The usual game haunts are awash with thread after thread spewing vitriol at the collaboration, alongside more level headed responses quick to point out the lunacy of the outburst.
As this couple of enraged Reddit users put it:
Despite inflammatory fears of hordes of bad-mouthed Fortnite kids invading the community, the reality is, as ever, more nuanced.
Fortnite Backlash Is a Big Fuss About Nothing
The crossover only affects Fortnite through a limited-time themed-event that includes a rejigging of a small portion of the map with Borderlands’ signature cel-shaded art style, and a handful of Borderlands-inspired cosmetics are gifted to players who pre-order the game from the Epic Games Store.
That’s it.
Borderlands 3 remains identical to what it was before the crossover went public (the game launches in two weeks and has long since gone gold, meaning the prospect of any substantial changes is incredibly slim), and doesn’t incorporate any explicit element of Fortnite.
There’s a small chance a few Fortnite references may pepper the game world, but then again that is in keeping with developer Gearbox’s tradition of weaving meta cultural references into its titles. For example, Easter eggs for games as varied as Minecraft and Dark Souls featured in past franchise titles.
The irony is that many of the negative reactions to the crossover mimic the behavior disgruntled fans fear will corrupt the game – shrill, infantile outbursts.
As the title to Shakespeare’s seminal comedy goes, it’s all much ado about nothing, and the throngs of pissed off fanatics, who by their own accord are mature adults able to handle the M-rated content of the game, need to take a step back and curb that misplaced anger.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author and do not represent those of, nor should they be attributed to, CCN.
