The Borderlands franchise is in a dormant state, with five years since the last mainline entry. However, the recent Borderlands film hopes to keep the world of Pandora in the front of players’ minds with an all-star cast. No doubt the film planned to capitalize on the recent trend of successful video game adaptations like the Fallout TV series.
But with no new content slated to be released in the coming months, it may be difficult to pull players back to the game and, as a result, difficult to drum up hype for the series on live-streaming platforms. This article looks at the impact of the film’s release on Borderlands viewership, the franchise’s historical performance, and the popularity of looter shooters – the genre that Borderlands originated – on live streaming.
The Most Recent Borderlands Releases Thrilled Live-Streaming Viewers
2019 was a bumper year for Borderlands fans. Two titles released within 6 months of one another: Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition (a remaster of the original Borderlands) and Borderlands 3. As a result, all three Borderlands titles saw spikes in popularity with Borderlands 3 hitting a peak monthly viewership of 18M hours watched when it was released in September. Original Borderlands viewership also spiked at 2.2M hours watched in April, and Borderlands 2 viewership hit 2.4M hours watched after the Borderlands 3 trailer released.
Aside from simply being enthralling games, Borderlands made special efforts to be live-streaming compatible. One of the most innovative tools deployed was ECHOcast: A Borderlands-exclusive Twitch overlay that provided the streamers’ class and loadout. ECHOcast was the perfect tool for innovation: Viewers could receive free loot as thanks for watching the participating streamer, they could collectively attack the streamer using a powered-up enemy, and even spawn a piñata for the streamer to track down. In terms of community-building initiatives, the ECHOcast was virtually unmatched by rival games that relied on standard Twitch Drops events.
Borderlands Streaming Viewership Has Petered Off Without New Content
Despite the obvious love for live-streaming integration however, Borderlands 3 struggled to retain its audience without new content being launched for the game. Fast-forwarding to today’s landscape reveals only a handful of dedicated Borderlands streamers still covering the game. JoltzDude139 has the highest average minute viewership (AMA) of 497 among Borderlands-centric streamers. Some smaller AMA streamers like Ki11erSix also pulled in a relatively high viewership of 59K hours watched in the past 3 months.
Given that 5 years have passed since the game was released, it’s fantastic that some fans are sticking around. But these values are low compared to other games in the space (as discussed later). The few high profile streamers that have dipped their toe in the Borderlands pool of late are VTubers like Cecilia Immergreen who generated 30.5K hours watched in a single three-hour session.
This small spike in interest is due to the Borderlands film. Looking at chat mentions on Twitch to measure hype for Borderlands reveals 35K chat mentions in the week of the film’s release – double the mentions compared to the week prior. While this number pales in comparison to mega-releases like Marvel Rivals, it does demonstrate that the gaming community is actively interested in any Borderlands news they can get their hands on.
Unfortunately, the Borderlands film flopped at the box office. Some pundits blame the story (a departure from the games), the toned down content to fit a PG rating, and the stiff competition from Deadpool & Wolverine. However, it’s worth noting that many hardcore fans of Borderlands – the exact core audience the film would be hoping to target – don’t value the game’s story. It’s gameplay that is keeping these diehard fans interested in the franchise, and so a film might have been ill-advised without new gameplay content to back it up.
Looter Shooters Remain Incredibly Popular on Live-Streaming Platforms
As far as gameplay is concerned, live streaming audiences are clamoring for more looter shooter action. Looking at the top looter shooter titles over the past month reveals three mega-hits in the genre: The First Descendant, Destiny 2, and Warframe. The First Descendant launched not too long ago on the 2nd of July, which explains its monstrous monthly viewership of 9.7M hours watched. Destiny 2 has also been back in the zeitgeist thanks to its “The Final Shape” DLC which was released back in June.
Warframe, however, is the best demonstration of what an older title can do with a bit more community engagement. At the annual TennoCon event, Warframe fans gather to hear updates about the game and news about upcoming content releases. TennoCon 2024 saw a monumental peak viewership of 495K for Warframe content, as the community turned out to hear about the upcoming Warframe 1999 expansion. With this year being the 5th anniversary of Borderlands 3 and the 15th anniversary of the original game, it would have been great to see a similar community-focused live-streaming event.
It’s clear that Borderlands’ genre isn’t the issue. Hopefully when news about Borderlands 4 is announced in the coming months, the player base will rally around the title and we’ll see live-streaming audiences return. The downfall of the film doesn’t mean a lack of demand for the games. Stream Hatchet will be watching as Borderlands jumps back into the gaming arena soon.
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