Borderlands 3 officially the fastest-selling game in 2K history

Borderlands 3
Borderlands 3 (Image credit: 2K)

Borderlands 3 is 2K’s fastest selling game in the publisher’s history, officially topping its predecessor’s sales during the same launch window.

Things are definitely looking up for the third installation to the action role-playing shooter franchise. That is, despite a rocky start after controversially being announced as an Epic Games exclusive for PC – not to mention, its issues with cloud saves and lags when on split-screen mode. 

IGN reports that Borderlands 3 has already sold more than 5 million copies within its first five days after launch. This means that not only has it sold 50% more copies than Borderlands 2, but it has set the record as 2K’s highest-selling PC game. According to the publisher, Borderlands 3 has exceeded expectations as it “delivered the highest pre-order sales figures to date for a 2K title.”

What backlash?

That's not all. 2K also says that it “broke pre-order records with the Epic Games Store.” Not too shabby for a game that received a lot of backlash at launch.

The decision to make Borderlands 3 exclusive to Epic Games Store on PC definitely ruffled a few feathers, especially with Steam users. However, it seems that hasn’t stopped fans from purchasing the title. The latest Borderlands game is indeed performing swimmingly on PC, and everyone is playing it even without sales on Steam.

According to GameSpot, at its launch, Borderlands 3 also claimed the lofty spot as the most-watched game on Twitch. It has since generated more than 14 million hours of content – that’s more than half of what Borderlands 2 generated in the past seven or so years.

Its record-breaking sales has now pushed the Borderlands franchise to that $1 billion mark, which makes it the second franchise to do so in 2K history.

Michelle Rae Uy
Contributor

Michelle Rae Uy is the former Computing Reviews and Buying Guides Editor at TechRadar. She's a Los Angeles-based tech, travel and lifestyle writer covering a wide range of topics, from computing to the latest in green commutes to the best hiking trails. She's an ambivert who enjoys communing with nature and traveling for months at a time just as much as watching movies and playing sim games at home. That also means that she has a lot more avenues to explore in terms of understanding how tech can improve the different aspects of our lives.