Borderlands 3 on Stadia is a Two Month Old Version

Borderlands 3 has finally released on Google Stadia, but there are some drawbacks to playing the game on Google’s streaming platform. It turns out that the version of Borderlands 3 on the service is actually a two month old build of the game dating back to October 24, meaning it’s missing significant content additions that console and PC players will have access to.

Because the Stadia version of the game dates back to late October, players won’t be able to play the Takedown at the Maliwan Blacksite, a challenging piece of endgame content designed around a full team of four players. Stadia players also won’t have access to other features added to Borderlands 3 post-launch, including the Mayhem 4 difficulty mode, dedicated loot pools for bosses, or extra bank space. The game’s first DLC campaign, Moxxi’s Heist of the Handsome Jackpot, launches in just a few days on December 19 on PC and console, but Stadia won’t get the expansion until early next year.

“We aim to achieve feature parity for all versions of Borderlands 3 early in 2020,”  says Gearbox, “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.”

The Stadia version of Borderlands 3 is currently available at a special launch discount through January 7. Stadia Pro members (which is just about everyone on the service at this time) can snag the base game for $38. That’s similar enough to what the game goes for on other platforms to make buying the game on Stadia a viable option if you’d prefer the portability that streaming provides.

Unfortunately, Borderlands 3 has another drawback on Stadia: it’s missing local multiplayer. Yes, you can play the game online with up to three friends, but this version of the game does not support split-screen multiplayer, something that the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of the game do support. Just like the PC version of the game, you can’t play locally with a friend on Stadia.

As for performance, the Stadia version of Borderlands 3 has the same resolution and performance modes as the console versions, with the former offering 4K at 30fps and the latter offering 1080p with an unlocked framerate. The performance mode seems to fare about the same as it does on Xbox One X, never quite keeping a locked 60fps with lots of action on screen, which is a shame considering Stadia’s increased processing power when compared to local hardware.

There isn’t a hard date for when Stadia will get content updates like Moxxi’s Heist of the Handsome Jackpot, but Stadia players can expect to have parity sometime early next year.