"Don't play this game": Borderlands 2 review bombed after going free due to controversial EULA update

Borderlands 2 recently went free on Steam for a limited time. It had previously maintained a Very Positive rating with over 280,000 user reviews on the platform. However, within a few days of going free, fans bombarded the game with thousands of negative reviews, causing its recent to be Overwhelmingly Negative.

This has largely happened due to the changes made by 2K Games in the EULA and Terms of Service. One of the players wrote the following review on Steam:

"Don't play this game unless you want the publisher to spy on you and your personal information"

Several users strongly criticized the recent update. @Klibit felt the move was worse than EA’s controversies and accused the publishers of changing the terms just to collect data and ban mods, which were highly popular in the community. @pebblegarden had similar sentiments, mentioning how the new EULA allegedly makes the game spyware.

Comments from the Steam Store page (Image 2K Games)

@CerealKilled, a long-time owner of the game, was also frustrated, claiming they no longer play the game after seeing that Borderlands 2 now required root-level access to the system. @EAGLEOWL_OFFICIAL also pointed out how adding kernel-level access to such an old game is quite unusual.

This controversy could seriously impact the launch of Borderlands 4, which is set to release on September 12, 2025. As of now, the developers haven't issued any statement to address the criticism.

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Major changes in Borderlands 2 EULA and Terms of Service

Here's a brief of all the major changes made in the Borderlands 2 EULA and ToS right before it went completely free on Steam:

Gameplay restrictions

• Modding is now considered a bannable offense, even in single-player.
• Showcasing cheats or exploits in any form can lead to a ban.
• Users caught using VPN while connected to online servers can be banned, no matter what the intent is.
• Playing on a virtual machine like a cloud PC is now prohibited.

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Data collection policies

• Identifiers & contact info: Real name, usernames, email and postal addresses, phone numbers, device IDs, and even IP address.
• Characteristics: Age and gender.
• Commercial info: Purchase history, gameplay habits, and content preferences.
• Billing data: Credit card numbers and shipping address.
• Internet activity: Browsing history primarily related to 2K Games.
• Device info: Hardware specs, language, and OS details.
• Profile inferences: Behavior-based profiling to personalize ads or offers.
• Audio/visual data: Chat logs, voice chat recordings, in-game footage, and user avatars.
• Sensitive information: GPS location (if permission is granted), passwords, and even private chat content.

All these changes do seem quite concerning, validating why many players are upset. Unfortunately, most people accept these terms without reading them. If you’re not comfortable with 2K Games or any other company collecting that much personal information, you can simply reject the terms. However, this means you won't be able to access that game or software.

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