Here's everything included in the free Crossplay Update for Borderlands 3!
Look alive, Vault Hunters! There's a ton of exciting stuff coming your way in the Crossplay Update, which goes live as a free addition for Borderlands 3 players today, June 24! Here's everything you need to know about what's in it, including crossplay functionality for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Mac, Stadia, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, the return of the Cartels seasonal event, endless seasonal events, a new level cap increase, and the finale for the True Trials mini-events!
CROSSPLAY
Starting today, June 24, we’re excited to bring crossplay to Borderlands 3 across Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Mac, Stadia, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. There has never been a better time for you and your friends to experience the shooting and looting mayhem together.
Crossplay between the aforementioned platforms is made possible by SHiFT Matchmaking, and you'll be greeted by an opt-in window when the Crossplay Update is live. Regardless of whether you choose to enable or disable Crossplay, you'll be prompted to set a Crossplay Display Name, which is required for SHiFT Matchmaking functionality. Your Crossplay Display Name must meet the following requirements:
Must be a unique name not already in use by another Borderlands 3 player
Must be between 3-16 characters long
Must start with a letter, and is limited to a-z, A-Z, 0-9, or non-consecutive underscore, hyphen, or period/full-stop characters
You can change your display name on your personal account page on the SHiFT website, or in Borderlands 3 via the Social menu option from the main menu or pause menu. Simply click Social, switch to the SHiFT tab, and change your Crossplay Display Name in the Account Details section.
THE REVENGENCE OF REVENGE OF THE CARTELS
The fan-favorite seasonal event is back! Bring the fight into round two against Joey Ultraviolet and his gangs of underlings, tearing apart their scenic Villa Ultraviolet mansion in the process. Starting today, your Saurian pal Maurice aboard Sanctuary III will recruit you for another dose of revenge on the brutes who broke his arm (again)!
If you played the Revenge of the Cartels event in 2020, The Revengence of Revenge of the Cartels works just the same. Maurice will ask you to eliminate Cartel Operative enemies, who can be found in areas from the base game and campaign add-ons alike; they're easy to spot because they wear bright neon duds like the '80s never ended. Slaying an Operative activates a dead-man's switch that'll warp in some Cartel Thugs looking to avenge their blasted buddy. Once you've dispatched enough Cartel Thugs and collected Hideout Coordinates from their corpses, Maurice can open up a portal to the main event: a raucous showdown at Villa Ultraviolet against the Eridium Cartel kingpin himself, Joey Ultraviolet.
The Revengence of Revenge of the Cartels features a new set of themed items cosmetic items, unlocked via the same Challenges and thresholds from last year. Here's the breakdown for unlocks:
3 Challenges: 'Cosmic Ring' ECHO Device Skin
6 Challenges:'Pandora Sunset' Weapon Trinket
10 Challenges:'Framed Tenderizer' Room Decoration
14 Challenges:'Digital Horizons' Weapon Skin
18 Challenges:'Grid Runner' Vault Hunter Skin
Ordinarily, this would be the part where we say you can turn the event on or off at any time between its start and end dates. But as part of the Crossplay Update, seasonal event 'end dates' are no longer a thing!
ENDLESS SEASONAL EVENTS
With today's update, you'll be able to play any of Borderlands 3's themed seasonal events—Bloody Harvest, Broken Hearts Day, and Revenge of the Cartels—whenever you like, for as long as you like! A new option on the Main Menu will let you select which of these three events you'd like to toggle on or off. Note that this option only applies to the three seasonal events and not limited-time mini-events.
These annual events all have their own distinct sets of themed cosmetic rewards and some unique drops from their Year 1 and Year 2 iterations—all of which can now be earned at your own pace. If you participated in these events previously, your progress on related Challenges won't be reset. Instead, you can earn (or re-earn) any of a seasonal events' drops from their iconic boss fight. Captain Haunt will now drop any items unique to Bloody Harvest, and Joey Ultraviolet will drop any items unique to Revenge of the Cartels. As for Broken Hearts Day, you can collect its seasonal goodies by blowing up Loot Hearts.
In online multiplayer, the host player's settings will determine if any of the seasonal events are active or not. And only one seasonal event can be active at a time, so you and Maurice won't get information overload during his continued studies of human customs.
LEVEL CAP INCREASE
Get ready to push your power even further as the level cap increases by 7 levels to a max level of 72. With a maximum total of 70 Skill Points to play with, there are even more ways to make ludicrous amounts of mayhem and concoct character builds that'll demolish your enemies like never before.
TRUE TRIALS FINALE
You've all fought valiantly during the True Trials mini-events so far, and now it's time for an ultra-challenging finale! From June 24 at 9:00 AM PT to July 1 at 8:59 AM PT, the effects of all six True Trials mini-events will be active. That means all the Trials bosses get the same substantial boost to health and damage, they'll all drop their two respective Legendary items from that week, and the chest at the end of each trial will be chock-full of Legendaries!
Elite Vault Hunters eager to be on the cutting edge of killing potential should take advantage of this True Trials finale to farm gear at the new max level of 72 (provided you can actually defeat the even-more-powerful bosses). On the flip side, newer players should avoid all the Proving Grounds Trials until the event ends or risk getting absolutely slaughtered, as this endgame difficulty event cannot be turned off!
We hope you enjoy everything that the Crossplay Update has to offer as the Borderlands 3 community continues to grow. Get ready to make some crossplay mayhem with your friends!