Action · September 17, 2012

Borderlands 2 (2012)

calendar_todayAge 17+trophy75 achievementsextension5 DLClocal_offer-75% current discountgroup10M–100M ownerstrending_up8.6k peak concurrentrecommend213.7k recommendations
A new era of shoot and loot is about to begin. Play as one of four new vault hunters facing off against a massive new world of creatures, psychos and the evil mastermind, Handsome Jack. Make new friends, arm them with a bazillion weapons and fight alongside them in 4 player co-op on a relentless quest for revenge and redemption across the undiscovered and unpredictable living planet. Key Features: All-New Characters and All-New Classes: Four all new playable classes including the Siren, the Commando, the Gunzerker and the Assassin. Step into the role of the Gunzerker, whose highly deadly skills allow him to dual-wield any two weapons found in the game. Not only that, you will build on that skill to do more things with two guns than you ever imagined possible. Dual machine guns? Cool. Dual rocket launchers? Of course! Dual Sniper Rifles? Sure, if that’s your thing! Want to try other styles? More tactical perhaps? There are multiple classes to choose from! Dynamic Co-op online, and LAN: Share your adventures with friends both online and via LAN. Borderlands 2 features a seamless system enabling you to drop in and drop out of a campaign without ever having to restart the game. On top of that you can even take your new gear from any game to any other! World Connected Story: Find yourself left for dead in the frozen tundra of Pandora as you begin your quest of revenge and redemption. Expose the evil surrounding the Hyperion Corporation and take on the perpetrator of a universe-wide grand deception -- the nefarious Hyperion CEO, Handsome Jack. (Oh, also: he's stolen credit for the opening of the Vault.) 87 Bazillion...Everything: In addition to the new gun system, you will lust after procedurally generated shields, grenades, Relics, class mods and much, much more. And you thought the original Borderlands had a ton of loot! Brand new environments on Pandora: Hunt through entirely brand new areas of Pandora that are more alive than ever! From the arctic tundra, through the dangerous grasslands, past the mysterious corrosive caverns to beyond, you’ll be surprised by the unpredictable world of Pandora at every turn! Brand new enemies: A whole slew of new enemies are out there to kill you in Borderlands 2. Hulking, gorilla-like Bullymongs, vicious predatory Stalkers and the Hyperion mechanical army, run by Handsome Jack, are just some of the new enemies in Borderlands 2. Note: The Mac and Linux versions of Borderlands 2 are available in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish only.

Action releases from 2012

71 Action titles launched in 2012 — top 6 by review volume.

Position in Action

MetricThis titleGenre position
Review volume295.2k Steam reviewsTop 2% in Action
Positive rating92% positiveGenre average: 83% — this title sits in top 28%
Metacritic89/100Genre average 77 — top 6% of Action titles
Concurrent peak8.6k playersTop 2% in Action by live player count
Engagement hours51 h averageTop 7% for session depth among Action

Community Tag Signals

Tag weights reflect how many Steam users voted each descriptor — larger pills = stronger consensus.

  • Loot · 9.8k
  • Shooter · 9.2k
  • Action · 9.1k
  • Multiplayer · 7.6k
  • Co-op · 7.5k
  • Looter Shooter · 7.2k
  • FPS · 6.9k
  • RPG · 5.5k
  • First-Person · 5.4k
  • Funny · 5.1k
  • Comedy · 4.9k
  • Open World · 3.5k
  • Combat · 3.0k
  • Online Co-Op · 2.1k
  • Adventure · 2.0k

Peer Action titles

Comparable titles in the same genre and review-volume band — ranked by Steam positive percentage.

Localization Coverage

Interface / Subtitles (8)

  • English volume_up
  • French volume_up
  • German volume_up
  • Italian volume_up
  • Japanese volume_up
  • Spanish - Spain volume_up
  • Korean
  • Traditional Chinese volume_up

Full audio (7)

  • English
  • French
  • German
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Spanish - Spain
  • Traditional Chinese

Reception Metrics

Steam community

92%Very Positive · 295.2k reviews

271.6k positive · 23.6k negative

Metacritic

89/100 critic aggregate

Open Metacritic page

Metacritic user score

8.2/10

Curator recommendations

213.7k

Peak concurrent players

8.6k

Features & Capabilities

Multiplayer

  • Multi-player
  • Co-op

Community

  • Steam Achievements
  • Steam Trading Cards
  • Steam Cloud
  • Remote Play on Phone
  • Remote Play on Tablet
  • Remote Play on TV

Input & Comfort

  • Full controller support

Other

  • Single-player
  • Family Sharing

Press Quotes

“Prepare to level. Prepare to loot. Prepare to get lost in the hilarious, bizarre and wonderful world of Pandora.” 9/10 – IGN “Borderlands 2 stands out as Gearbox's magnum opus, and one of the most memorable and fun gaming rides I've ever been on.” 4.5/5 – GameSpy “This is the game, and it makes Borderlands persistently fresh in a way other shooters never are. ” 90/100 – PC Gamer

Engagement Profile

All-time avg

51h

substantial (40–100 hours)

Median

17h

Typical completion time

2-week avg

2h

Current engagement

Achievements

75

Steam unlocks available

Release & Availability

Release dateSep 17, 2012
DeveloperGearbox Software, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux)
Publisher2K, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux)
Base price$4.99 -75%
Required age17+
DLC / Add-ons5 released
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux
Estimated owners10M–100M
External linksOfficial site · Metacritic page · Support

Editions & Packages

  • Buy Borderlands 2