Borderlands 2 Review (BaldingFilly8)
The Review: Borderlands 2 is a great game. You should at least try it.
Now, the main reason I am writing this. No, the game is not spyware. It’s a misunderstanding based on a recent update to the terms of service. What happened was the games publisher, Take Two Interactive, updated the terms of their end user license recently. Several actors in the Borderlands community misread these changes as them turning the currently released games in the franchise into literal spyware. This is not true. The games are perfectly safe to run and your data will not be stolen. The codebase for the games is unchanged, all the update did is add an advertisement for the upcoming fourth game and you have to agree to the new EUL before you can play online. That said if you feel uncomfortable playing due to this controversy or Take Two changing the EUL without your consent, I understand. I post this only to clarify the situation and will update it as needed.
If you want more on the situation, this Reddit post does a good job explaining it:
https:// old.reddit.com/r/Borderlands/comments/1kusnqa/new_eula_question_if_anyone_knows/mu4esbx/?context=3
QnA:
Will the game spy on me?
– NO. The games code base is unchanged from before the update. The game itself will not collect any information.
Will I need a Kernel Level Anti-Cheat which will spy on me?
- NO. You will not need to install any anti-cheat to play Borderlands 2. The update did not change this.
Why has the EUL been changed?
- Take Two recently bought Gearbox and thus the rights Borderlands franchise. As part of their acquisition of Gearbox, Take Two is updating all online games Gearbox to use their EUL since they host the servers now.
Can I play without agreeing to the new EUL?
- Yes. You will have to play the game in offline mode and cannot access multiplayer features, but you can still play without agreeing to the EUL.
Will I be banned from multiplayer or sued by Take Two for using mods?
- NO. The game is a 10+ year old co-op shooter. Take Two does not care if you mod it. This part of the EUL is relevant for modern releases and in active development projects such as Grand Theft Auto Online where cheating and piracy via mods is a very real problem.
Will I be banned from multiplayer for using foul language?
- NO. Again, this is a 10+ year old game. Take Two does not care if you trash talk your teammates. Again, this part of the EUL is relevant to more modern projects. Still, please respect your teammates.
What data does the new EUL cover?
- Emails, phone numbers, username, name, IP address, and passwords if relevant. If this sounds concerning, know that this is standard for many EULs where you need to create an account. You provided all this information except the latter to Steam when you created your account, Take Two just asks Steam to look at this information. The password clause is only for your Gearbox Shift account, it will not steal banking passwords or your Steam password.
Edit June 6th, 2025: Clarified a few things and added a link