Borderlands 3 developer Gearbox Software announced that a planned event for the Takedown of the Maliwan Blacksite activity is being put on hold. The studio discovered a bug with the modified version of the DLC mode that was causing problems and made the correct decision to delay the release and fix the bugs.
Originally, the Maliwan Blacksite event was supposed to feature a variant that would scale difficulty based on the number of players in the activity. This was a highly anticipated release for solo Borderlands 3 players who did not enjoy relying on matchmaking for the activity and preferred to farm on their own terms.
Normally, Takedown of the Maliwan Blacksite is built as a repeatable, 4-player activity that does not scale its difficulty. For some players this was seen as a frustrating choice, because it meant they would need to rely on the skill and builds of others in order to be successful. It wasn’t long before players started asking for Gearbox if the studio might lift the restriction and allow them to farm the new Takedown sniper with less than the required 4-player group. Gearbox was receptive to the idea and was originally set to launch the event in celebration of New Year’s.
There is no official world from Gearbox Software about what the bug was or what could be causing it, but some Borderlands 3 fans speculate that it had something to do with the release date for the event. The listing for the new version of Takedown of the Maliwan Blacksite said that it would go live on Monday December 31, 2019 at 9am PT. It’s possible that this timer broke the launch and Gearbox was going to be unable to fix it until after the New Year’s holiday was over and the development team returned to the studio.
Surely this is a disappointing blow for Borderlands 3 players, but many seem to appreciate the openness and honesty from Gearbox Software. Rather than launch a product that it knew was bugged in some way, Gearbox made the tough decision to delay the event and get everything right. In the meantime, players can enjoy the new Moxxi’s Heist of the Handsome Jackpot DLC.
There is no word on how long the delay might be, but it’s likely Gearbox Software will give a timeline once the holidays have ended. Without knowing the magnitude of the bug, it’s impossible to guess when it could be fixed. Of course, plenty of players would rather Gearbox shift its efforts towards Borderlands 3 vertical split screen but that is a whole other issue entirely.
Borderlands 3 is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
