Battleborn
Battleborn contained a full campaign, but its always-online design erased even single-player access when the servers closed.
Quick facts
- Existence state
- Officially Gone
- Peak stage
- general availability
- Research confidence
- high
- Last verified
What it was
A commercial hero shooter with cooperative story missions and competitive modes, developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K.
Battleborn launched at retail with a large cast, campaign missions and multiplayer modes. It later added a free trial and stopped receiving new content, but its entire experience continued to depend on 2K's servers.
Existence timeline
Gearbox and 2K reveal the hybrid campaign and competitive shooter.
Battleborn goes on sale for consoles and Windows.
A free entry tier opens selected multiplayer access to more users.
The game moves into maintenance without further planned content.
2K removes the game from digital sale and outlines a phased service end.
Purchases end while existing players retain temporary server access.
The authentication servers close, including access to the campaign.
Why it ended
2K removed the game from sale, disabled premium-currency purchases and completed a phased shutdown on January 31, 2021. No official mode remained playable afterward, including solo campaign content.
Last confirmed trace
Physical copies, installed data, promotional material and recorded matches survive, but they cannot reproduce the authenticated original experience.
What it left behind
Battleborn became a clear preservation warning: packaging a campaign around mandatory online authentication can make a released work vanish as completely as its competitive service.
How we classified it
Battleborn reached normal retail and digital release before all official modes were permanently disabled.
Normal commercial release maps to 100 under Arrival Score V1.
Sources & verification
Last reviewed 2026-08-01. Sources are linked so readers can inspect the evidence directly.