'Battleborn' 2K Game Becomes Free-To-Play Soon

Players are set to see 2K Games' "Battleborn" soon as a free game, as per reports.

A source told Kotaku that the hero shooter game "Battleborn" will e a free-to-play game few months from now. As per the publication, it will happen in the middle of November; however, things can also change. Some rumors say that the date has already been postponed for several times.

According to the source, developer Gearbox Software has wanted to make "Battleborn" free-to-play from the "get-go;" however, publisher 2K had preferred to sell it as a $60 retail product. However, the game reportedly did not perform well, due to the rise of same-themed hero games, such as Blizzard Entertainment's "Overwatch," which also came out in the same month as the former.

As per reports, "Battleborn" is still as a "pretty good" game; but then, "Overwatch" remained on top of the market.

In a statement, as cited by Kotaku, Take-Two Interactive head Strauss Zelnick said that while the game had launched to solid reviews, its performance in the market had been under what they had expected.

According to Zelnick, they though there remained an opportunity to grow the audience for such unique experience over time and 2K would continue to drive engagement and recurrent consumer spending on the title via add-on content and virtual currency.

Shifting the $60 retail release as a free-to-play game is not new for 2K, as per Polygon. According to the publication, its survival-based multiplayer game "Evolve" succeeded after it became a free download game. The game's paid iteration was released in the summer and it is called "Evolve Stage 2."

Developed by Gearbox Software, "Battleborn" was released for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Microsoft Windows on May 3.