Borderlands 3 was announced earlier this month as an Epic Store exclusive title for PC. While its generous revenue split is appealing to game developers, the controversial store is disliked among the gaming community for many reasons. Certain payment methods offered by the Epic Store include a transaction surcharge that is paid by the customers. This practice, alongside numerous others, put off PC gamers from using the store, and consequently, purchasing Borderlands 3. However, the unreleased title is now available to purchase via third party key sellers which offer the same revenue split as Steam.

Third Party Retailers

As reported by GameRant, numerous third part key retailers are now pre-selling Borderlands 3. This brings up many questions, as Epic’s Tim Sweeney previously stated that Epic Store non-exclusive titles would be available via third parties. Soon after, he added that exclusive titles would receive the same treatment if the game’s developer chooses to work with the third party site.

What does this mean for PC gamers? For a start, those with limited access to payment methods can opt for third party retailers and avoid the Epic Store’s surcharge. Among the many payment methods supported by the Epic Store, approximately 80% of them carry no surcharge. However, a few regions do not offer any of these solutions, and so gamers didn’t have much of a choice.

Fortunately, key retailers such as Green Man Gaming and Humble Bundle are now offering Borderlands 3. Keep in mind that the key sold is intended for activation on the Epic Store. As confirmed by Gearbox’s Randy Pitchford, “these sites are selling keys that will enable a credentialed account an entitlement of the game on the Epic game store.”

What’s interesting about this is that Green Man Gaming offers a 70/30 revenue share, which is the same as Steam’s. This decision has left many fans wondering why the game isn’t being released on Steam. Publisher 2K and Epic Games have yet to comment on the matter.