“This game was so ill”: Fans review bomb Borderlands 2 on Steam over data tracking, despite free giveaway

Borderlands 2 is being given away on Steam, much to the dismay of fans, who are mass review bombing it.

Dexerto has reported that players are dissatisfied with the sudden changes in the classic game, including its new legal terms of service. Scores are now expressing concern about corporate and privacy overreach.

In particular, Borderlands 2 users are most concerned about the newly updated End User License Agreement (EULA) that has been implemented across all Borderlands games by its publisher, Take-Two Interactive. This update now grants the publisher increased access to players' systems, including their private data, hardware details, IP addresses, and even their browsing history.

Fans have since begun flocking to X to voice their concerns and opinions about Borderlands 2, such as this one user who penned:

"This game was so ill"

Here's how the rest of the internet is reacting:

Someone opined,

"Nothing is ever free. In “free” software, you are the product being sold"

Another questioned,

"If this game is spyware how is any other free game not spy ware"

One snarky fan quipped,

"oh no my precious data. let me scan my eyeball into my iphone so I can go review bomb a 14 year old game"

A fourth user chimed in,

"atleast be honest lmfao"

X was visibly rife with opinions:

Someone pointed out,

"Or you could play the game and not waste time review bombing it"

Another chimed in,

"they still think they gonna make a lot of money with borderlands 4 lol"

Yet another noted,

"Bro they gave it for free and still caught hands"

One more voiced,

"my data is already being collected just by replying to this tweet. the mods are bannable does concern me tho. now they get to say which mods are ok and which aren't"

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Everything we know about the latest controversy involving Borderlands 2:

Borderlands 2, which is currently available for pickup on Steam for free until June 8, 2025, has amassed nearly 5000 negative reviews on Steam as of this writing. Users are concerned that this new condition infringes on their privacy, while some are even claiming it is a form of spyware. Some even claim this can now be used to ban mods, which have notably contributed to the game's longevity.

Dexerto has reported that Take-Two’s EULA has adequately informed users what their data would be used for, which includes business purposes and commercial purposes.

For the former, all information gathered would be used to

"improve the service and our business, develop new products and services, enhance your experience on the Services, protect the security for our users, employees, facilities, and Services, and develop internal marketing and demographic studies."

For commercial purposes, the information would be used to "market and advertise our and our business partners’ products and services; send you promotional materials; and administer promotional activities or events."

Take-Two Interactive has also reportedly asserted that these measures have been instated to combat cheating and as added security. Notably, this new update in Borderlands 2 came out back in February, though it only caught fans' eyes more recently, when they were confronted with the new terms and conditions upon loading their Borderlands 2 games.

Despite this, two prolific Borderlands modders are trying to ease users' concerns by pointing out that there's "nothing new" about the change in the agreement and that it shouldn't change any part of the game modding. Borderlands modder Epic, who is currently helming the Borderlands Online MMO revival initiative, took to X to point out:

"I'm sure with thousands of new players trying Borderlands 2 for the first time, I'm bound to be asked 'What about the TOS?! I've told people it's nothing new many times before. But don't just take my word for it, here is trusted modder Apple's statement on it."

He coupled his tweet with a Discord message from Apple1417, who has created several mods for the Borderlands games in the past.

"Recently there's been a lot of misinformation and fearmongering concerning the new 2K TOS," their message reads. "Rest assured, there is nothing different about it compared to what was there previously – the main clause everyone's freaking out about was already there. It will not have any effect on Borderlands modding," they continue, adding: "We'll remind you the Gearbox forums used to have a modding section, all the way since [Borderlands 1], they've never even taken any steps against it, let alone legal action. So please, don't worry about it."

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