If you were wondering about why #BoycotBorderlands3 was trending, the game has been hit with yet another controversy. While many are excited about the upcoming looter shooter, this year has been one backlash after another. From assault allegations to public shaming concerning Gearbox head Randy Pitchford, it’s been a rough ride so far. So why, then, is #BoycottBorderlands3 trending?
This time, it has nothing to with a particular Twitter feud, this time it’s all about the game’s publishing company: 2K Games and its parent company Take-Two Interactive. It all started when a new Twitch feature was revealed through an extension by the name of ECHOcast. What happened was a trailer showing off this feature was shown and featured various Twitch accounts that were used to test it. The Borderlands testing channels created a network of other testing channels and while the streams themselves were public, the thumbnails were not.
The problem then was that Take-Two saw these thumbnails and saw them as a breach of intellectual property and hit many of these streamers and content creators with take-down notices with major copyright strikes as well as whole channels being taken down as well. YouTuber Supmatto alleges that Take-Two also hired two private investigators to “harrass” him during this DMCA hunt.
With this particular YouTuber’s content being primarily hype-worthy positivity for Borderlands 3, many of his fans were enraged by the hunt and this caused up older issues with Pitchford to also resurface. This led to yet another stint of boycotting Borderlands 3.
I already wasn’t going to be buying Borderlands 3, but this is just one more reason to add to the pile.#BoycottBorderlands3 #WithoutRespectWeRejecthttps://t.co/jcYHoWjDZS
— Matthew Anderson (@Matt317A) August 7, 2019
Some were quick to point out that it’s not fair to the poster above to punish the developers for a publisher’s mistake, but the tag continued to grow on social media garnering even more support despite this not being a studio problem. Both with people calling for a boycott and for those sticking up for the developers, here’s what some people are saying on social media:
Im not going to boycott a game thousands of people worked on for years because there boss is a dick. That’s just petty and punishing the wrong people. He will get his but dont punish the wrong people #boycottborderlands3
— zachary buffington (@toast2289) August 7, 2019
Thank you Randy Pitchford for your amazing contributions, nevermind that you had a USB stick with porn on it, or the fact it was underage porn, or the fact you assaulted your employees. Or the fact you are responsible for these abominations. #boycottborderlands3 pic.twitter.com/tglCpOY9O8
— sane (@oversanee) August 7, 2019
Take 2 sent private investigators to scare a youtuber who was releasing what is publicly accessible information about Borderlands 3 to stop what he was doing.. soon after his discord was taken down and his YT channel received numerous false copyright claims.#boycottborderlands3 pic.twitter.com/sggoxUtz5a
— 43% Battery (@40_40vision) August 7, 2019
>Gearbox half-assing Aliens years back.
>Epic Games timed exclusive from Steam.
>Pitchford’s meltdowns on Twitter, among other scandals.
>Take-Two muscling out an enthusiastic YouTuber with DCMAs and hired goons irl because “muh spoilers.”See? I told y’all. #boycottborderlands3
— Atomic Alicorn (@atomic_alicorn) August 7, 2019
You can learn more about what’s going on with the content creators in the video at the top of the article.