14 DAY TRIAL // 2K Games and Gearbox Software have confirmed that their upcoming Borderlands 2 game on the PC will benefit from Valve’s special Steamworks suite of features, meaning players on that platform can take advantage of cloud saving, auto-updating or matchmaking mechanics straight from the Steam service.
Borderlands 2 was confirmed last year but only recently did we get to learn some actual details about the game, its new characters, as well as its story.
Now, after detailing the Siren, Gunzerker, Commando or Assassin classes from the upcoming role playing shooter, Gearbox, its developer, and 2K, its publisher, have announced that a partnership has been struck with Valve, owner of the extremely popular Steam digital distribution service on the PC.
As a result, Borderlands 2 will fully benefit from Valve’s Steamworks suite when it will be released in September for the PC, as well as on the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 consoles.
“Borderlands 2 players will enjoy the benefits of Steamworks features, such as Steam Achievements, downloadable content, auto-updating, multiplayer matchmaking, Steam Cloud support and more. Customers who purchase the PC retail version of Borderlands 2 will also be able to enjoy all the great Steamworks features as well.”
While the original Borderlands also had support for certain Steam features, like Steam Cloud or Steam achievements, its multiplayer used GameSpy’s own infrastructure which didn’t really produce the best results, despite several patches and updates that were released by Gearbox.
Considering Borderlands 2 will retain the focus on cooperative action between multiple players, matchmaking through Steam is a great addition that will help make its multiplayer much easier to get into.
Look forward to Borderlands 2’s release on September 18, in North America, and September 21, in Europe and the rest of the world. Pre-orders can already be made, thus netting customers access to special weapons and bonuses.