Borderlands 3 has finally released for Google Stadia. However, the version available to Stadia players is currently an older version of the game from two months ago.
The 1.0 version of Borderlands released September 13 for PS4, Xbox One, and computers. Since then, it's gotten a variety of updates over its three months on the market. Just yesterday, Borderlands 3 made the jump to Google's Stadia, but it's a bit of a shaky port. Anyone who's picking up the game for Stadia will find that it's not quite the exact Borderlands 3 other people are playing. More specifically, the Stadia version of the game is only updated up to October 24.
What do players lose out without those months of updates? For starters, the Stadia version is missing out on a variety of bug fixes and balancing tweaks, such as giving bosses dedicated loot pools so certain guns are easier to obtain. As for more noticeable omissions, players won't be able to access the "Takedown at the Maliwan Blacksite" endgame mission as well as level four Mayhem difficulty, both added in the November 21 patch.
Google addressed the lack of updates in a press release yesterday. At launch, they said, the game will only have the updates and fixes up to October 24, when the game had it's "Bloody Harvest" Halloween event. The missing features, along with Borderlands 3's first upcoming campaign expansion "Moxxi's Heist of the Handsome Jackpot," are "expected to launch on Stadia in early 2020." Google's press release doesn't mention if the Stadia version will remain up-to-date with the console/PC versions after the 2020 update or if it will continue lagging behind.
Borderlands 3 is available for Google Stadia at a "special launch price" until January 7. It costs $38.99 for the standard version, $51.99 for the deluxe version, and $77.99 for the super deluxe version. Gearbox Entertainment has confirmed that the Stadia version will run in 4K with a Stadia Pro subscription.
