The new Borderlands 3 Stadia version isn’t quite so new at all. This streaming version that launched today at “a special launch price for a limited time” (the Pro discount has the base version at $38.99 that ends on January 7, 2020 at 7 AM PT) came alongside some other, less exciting news. The game is essentially running a version from October with a goal to achieve parity for all platforms in “early 2020.”
“We aim to achieve feature parity for all versions of Borderlands 3 early in 2020,” said the post, “but for the moment the version of the game that you play on Stadia has benefitted from the updates and fixes that were released through October 24.”
ALSO: Overcooked 2 update adds free new holiday-themed kitchens and skins
This October 24 date would mean it would be at this patch which added Photo Mode, a more extreme difficulty setting, and some additional quality of life features. That update also kicked off the seasonal Bloody Harvest event but it’s unclear if that is also in the Stadia version, given how it is currently December and decidedly not Halloween. The most recent update implemented support for the new Moxxi’s Heist DLC, which is slated for a December 19 release. Moxxi’s Heist will be the first big DLC drop of the season pass and Stadia players will have to wait to be able to experience it.
But the outdated version of the game isn’t the only issue with the Stadia version. While the website says it runs at 4K, people have claimed that it only runs at 30 frames per second while at that resolution. Some have said that it can run at 60 frames per second in 1440p, but players aren’t quite happy that it can’t run faster while being in a higher resolution.
For comparison, the boosted consoles can either run at 1080p and 60 frames per second or 4K and at 30 frames per second (not counting the frame rate drops inherent to the game). Others are also alleging that the game runs at 30 frames but updates at 60, meaning that players are wasting bandwidth streaming the game. There are many reports about what it does or does not do, but regardless, it seems to be frustrating people by not running at its full potential.
And as if that wasn’t enough, it also seemingly doesn’t support couch co-op like the console versions, which are revered for the local co-op play. The PC version doesn’t have split-screen co-op so this makes some sense, given how the Stadia version is most likely based on the PC port.
