Borderlands 3 is finally coming to Steam in just over a week’s time, on the 13th of March. The game is already available to pre-order on the platform, and Gearbox has now revealed when the game will be available for pre-load, ahead of the launch date. Furthermore, the studio has revealed new details about PC cross-play and save file transfers.
When You Can Pre-Load Borderlands 3 on Steam
Borderlands 3 will be launching on Steam at 7:00 AM PST on the 13th of March. However, if you pre-order, you’ll be able to pre-load the game on the 10th of March. Gearbox hasn’t given a specific time, but has said that it will be available to pre-load “in the early afternoon”. That will give players almost three days to get the game installed and avoid a lengthy download on launch day; always a good plan for a big game like Borderlands 3. After all, Gearbox is recommending that players have around 75 GB free for the download.
Furthermore, when the game launches on Steam, it will feature ‘PC Cross-Play’ with the Epic Games Store, thanks to Gearbox’s SHiFT system. On launch day, the Epic version of the game will also have a patch which will add a PC Cross-Play option to the main menu. Enabling Cross-Play will allow you to join game sessions with players regardless of whether they’re playing on the Epic Games Store or on Steam. Players won’t be able to exchange items from Epic accounts to Steam accounts, and vice versa, via the in-game mail system. However, Gearbox does plan to make this possible eventually via a post-launch patch.
In fact, not only will you be able to play with friends on the other platform, but if you’re picking up the game again then you can even transfer save files. Borderlands 3 save data will be transferable between the Epic Games Store and Steam. However, this does have to be done manually, so it isn’t exactly the simplest procedure. Fortunately, Gearbox will be providing detailed instructions explaining how to do this ahead of the Steam launch date, although players should be aware that there is a risk of losing data if you make a mistake!