Battleborn is a first-person-shooter with a deep roster of 25 playable heroes. Every hero has their own personality and comes equipped with their own unique weapons and powers. Through Battleborn’s accelerated character growth system, players will fully experience each hero’s leveling progression in a single story mission or multiplayer match.

Battleborn is set in a distant future, where nearly every star in the universe has gone dark at the hands of a mysterious enemy. Solus, the last star, is the only beacon of hope for the universe’s surviving population. The fading of stars has led to a great war among those desperate for the last remaining resources. Heroes, called Battleborn, fight for the dominance of their unique factions as all life in the universe teeters on the brink of extinction. Now, the mysterious enemy is threatening to finish what they’ve started, and only an unlikely alliance between the universe’s most powerful heroes can stop them.

While the development of post-launch content has not yet begun, finishing the game has allowed Gearbox to begin thinking about the futur, and today 2K shared its vision for supporting Battleborn post-launch.

At launch, you’ll have the chance to play as 25 completely different characters through a Story Mode that can be played solo, online co-op up to five players, and even two-player couch co-op, as well as three different 5v5 competitive multiplayer modes. Like the Borderlands games, Battleborn has a lot of value right out of the box, and our plan is to add even more value post-launch with both free content updates and paid add-on packs. Here’s how it’ll work…

Gamers can expect five more heroes hitting after launch – completely FREE – for all platforms, bringing the total roster to 30! And that’s just the beginning of many free updates we’re planning. Competitive multiplayer modes, maps, balance updates, and community features will also be free. When gamers throw down their hard earned cash they want that experience to last. This is why it’s very important to us that we deliver more than $60 worth of content at launch and continue to add more value in the form of free heroes, maps, modes, and other features post-launch.

The first of the five new free heroes to release will be Alani, a member of the Eldrid faction who was raised as a healer, but forced to be a warrior, and is all that remains of her order after Rendain’s Jennerit Imperium stole the oceans from her world. As a warrior from a planet with vast seas, Alani’s attacks and abilities revolve around her power to control water to dish out pain, or heal her fellow Battleborn. We’ll have more info on Alani, including her release date, as we get closer to launch. In the meantime, PlayStation 4 players who participate in the upcoming Open Beta will instantly-unlock Alani once she’s available after launch, saving players the time it takes to earn her through playing the game.

Battleborn’s universe is vast, and we’re happy to say it’ll continue expanding via five new add-on packs. Those that are familiar with Borderlands post-launch content over the years should feel right at home with Battleborn’s add-on packs, each pack will cost $4.99 and include one new Story Operation, as well as exclusive hero skins and taunts. These PvE Operations will be highly replayable solo, or co-operatively online and splitscreen with your friends, and will let you experience new side-stories during the fight to save the last star in the universe.

Concepts for the plot of these Story Operations are beginning to crystalize now that the game is complete and in certification, and we can’t wait to share more details about each Operation as we get closer to their release post-launch. In the meantime, Battleborn’s Season Pass costs $19.99 and will net you all five packs for the price of four. You can also pick up the Season Pass as part of Battleborn’s Digital Deluxe Edition, which includes the base game, the Season Pass, and some bonus cosmetic customizations for $74.99 – which saves you $10 in total if you’re already thinking of getting the game and all five add-on packs.  

We know that some gamers really love to express themselves through cosmetic customizations that make their heroes stand-out. That’s why Battleborn has a huge variety of skins and taunts that come with the game at launch, and we will continue to release even more cosmetic customizations post-launch – some of which we will sell in-game. This kind of optional cosmetic content has absolutely no effect on the gameplay, and helps us keep all the additional heroes, modes, maps, and other features that extend the core gameplay experience, free for everyone. We’re committed to making sure that you have the means to make your favorite heroes truly your own.

In short:

• Five new playable heroes will release sometime after launch – completely free – for all platforms, bringing the total roster to 30;
• The first of the five new heroes will be Alani, and more details on her can be found in the full announcement on the Battleborn blog;
• Additional competitive multiplayer modes, maps, balance updates, and community features will also be released in free updates;
• Five new add-on packs will release sometime after launch. Each pack will cost $4.99 and include a PvE Story Operation, exclusive skins and taunts;
• All five packs can be purchased as part of a Season Pass for $19.99, saving players $5 if they plan to buy all five packs individually;
• A Digital Deluxe Edition of Battleborn will be available for $74.99 and includes the game plus the Season Pass and additional cosmetic customizations; 

Key Features:

• Playable Heroes: Battleborn has a deep roster of 25 playable heroes and no two heroes are the same. For example, Rath is a samurai sword-wielding melee specialist. Oscar Mike fires an assault rifle and plays like a familiar space marine. Thorn is a dangerous archer who can also deal damage through magical attacks. There are many, many more battleborn heroes, and each has unique weapons, powers, and personalities that, through the accelerated character growth system, can be fully experienced in a cooperative campaign mission, or over the course of a single competitive multiplayer match.
• Cooperative Campaign: Battleborn’s team-based cooperative campaign is a narrative experience playable with up to four other friends online, and through splitscreen, much like Borderlands. Player profile experience is earned during cooperative campaign play, will cross over to competitive multiplayer matches and vice versa.
• Competitive Multiplayer Modes: Battleborn’s team-based competitive multiplayer action can be experienced by up to 10 players online in 5v5 matches, and includes three distinct multiplayer modes.
  • Incursion: Teams of heroes defend their base from waves of AI-controlled minions while working together, alongside their own minions, to destroy their opponents’ base;
  • Devastation: Teams of heroes face off in a fast-paced death match and must capture and hold objectives on the map to win;
  • Meltdown: Teams of heroes protect their minions as they march to their death at the center of the map. Points are scored for minions who throw themselves into the incinerator, and the team with the most points wins.
• Persistent Progression System: All experience points, whether earned through playing Battleborn’s Story Mode or Competitive Multiplayer modes, contribute to leveling up individual Character Rank, as well as player profile Command Rank.
  • Character Rank: Each hero can permanently rank up from 1 to 10 outside of missions and matches, allowing players to swap out augments in their helix skill tree, as well as unlock skins.
  • Command Rank: Players can rank up their own player profile, unlocking badges and titles to impress friends, and loot that can be used to benefit any hero the player chooses to command.

Battleborn will be available for $59.99.