Seven years after the launch of Borderlands 2, and the long-awaited Borderlands 3 is finally available to the masses. The early Borderlands 3 reviews have been largely positive, with the game currently enjoying an 85 rating on review aggregate site OpenCritic. However, the Borderlands 3 hasn't been as smooth as some may have hoped, as it is running into some technical problems, particularly when people try to play split-screen co-op.
Anyone that has played Borderlands 3 in split-screen co-op will know by now that the game has serious issues with lag. More specifically, Borderlands 3 lags to the point where the game becomes virtually unplayable if someone decides to open their ECHOdevice. This means that if one player wants to check the map, spend a skill point, or mess with their inventory, they will cause their split-screen partner to experience crippling lag. In our own testing, the game even crashed at one point because of this.
IGN reached out to 2K Games about the issue, and received this message in response:
"We are aware that in some cases during split-screen couch co-op play, players can experience lag while in heavy combat and one of the players goes into their ECHOdevice and tries to navigate the skill trees and menus. While we will continue to work to optimize the Borderlands 3 experience, we'd advise split-screen players to prep for combat ahead of big encounters, and not leave a teammate to fight solo mid firefight!"
While the obvious workaround to avoiding split-screen lag is to try to avoid getting into menus while someone else is busy exploring or fighting enemies, that's not always possible with Borderlands 3. Borderlands 3 throws so much loot at the player, ranging from terrible weapons to cool Legendary Weapons like the Rick and Morty shotgun, that more likely than not they will have to attend to their inventory when other players don't necessarily need to do so.
Luckily, the statement from 2K Games seems to indicate that the company is working on a fix. It says that the team is working to "optimize" the Borderlands 3 experience, but doesn't offer a timetable as to when fans can expect the Borderlands 3 split-screen lag to be fixed. For the sake of those that were looking forward to some couch co-op action with their friends, here's hoping a Borderlands 3 split-screen lag fix comes sooner rather than later.
Borderlands 3 is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, with a Stadia version also in development.
Source: IGN
