'Borderlands 2' is free right now, and yes, it runs on modern Macs
In an effort to hype up the upcoming release of "Borderlands 4," Gearbox, 2K, and Take-Two Interactive have made "Borderlands 2" free for PC and Mac owners. Act quick to keep it forever, though.
'Borderlands 2' is free to keep on Steam through June 8
If you're looking for a not-so-new game to try, you might wanna check out Borderlands 2. If you download it from Steam before June 8 at 1:00 pm ET, you get to keep the game -- meaning you get a $20 game for free.
If you haven't played it yet, Borderlands 2 is a well-loved first-person shooter with role-playing elements, set in a post-apocalyptic world. The game is known for its highly stylized design and its dark sense of humor.
Players choose from a selection of characters and must progress through missions, all while collecting increasingly powerful weapons and gear. While the game puts a lot of emphasis on cooperative multiplayer, it can be played solo if you're into that.
Initially released in 2012, Borderlands 2 received high scores from most critics and many fans. The game is consistently praised for gameplay and customization options, though some critics have noted that there could be some separation in the way classes play.
While the game was released in 2012, it's still possible to play it on modern Mac systems through Rosetta 2. So, the game runs great on Apple Silicon
If you're looking to give it a try, you can head to Steam. As stated above, you can get it -- and keep it -- for free if you snag it before Sunday. Otherwise, you'll have to pay $20.
Borderlands 4 is set to release in September 2025.
Recent controversy
In March 2025, Take-Two, who owns Borderlands' developer Gearbox, updated its end-user licensing agreements (EULA) across all of its games, of which Borderlands 2 is one. One YouTuber took an uncharitable read of the changes and proceeded to rile up the masses.
The YouTuber claims that the EULA changes grant the game access to "personal information," such as phone number, IP address, and operating system. However, this is hardly new in the world of software and is likely just a legal change made to prevent any confusion if someone were to ask why Take-Two needed to know their IP address.
The second claim is that the EULA prevents modding in any capacity. This is, again, an uncharitable read -- the EULA largely discourages users from negatively impacting other users' gameplay experience.
Again, this applies to all games that Take-Two owns, and not to Borderlands 2 specifically. Because the game has such a heavy modding culture around it, it would be a strange move for the developer to start cracking down on it suddenly.
However, the video landed with the effect it intended -- Borderlands 2 has been review bombed, leading to recent "overwhelmingly negative" reviews of the game on Steam. In response, Gearbox's CEO, Randy Pitchford, took the time to clarify how it would affect Borderlands players.
Nothing has or will change about the software. I think the publisher legal team is covering their bases, but that has nothing to do with what we're doing. I cannot change the EULA - that's decided at the publisher level. But I can assure that there is no spyware in the software.
-- Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic)
So, if you've never played Borderlands 2 and you see the "overwhelmingly negative" tag -- now you know why.
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Comments
Why should they get my phone number? It’s bad enough you have to give companies your phone number whenever you buy anything online, and I bet they get sold and abused all the time. Scamming vulnerable people by text and phone is an increasingly serious problem.
There needs to be technology that can hide your phone number much like hide my email.
They own companies like Zynga, their privacy policy links to the parent company's policy, which has the same text about what data they use:
https://zyngasupport.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360034758451-Personal-Data-Requests
https://www.take2games.com/privacy/en-US/
Some games require accounts similar to an Apple ID, especially online games and to verify the account, they use a phone number or email address.
People are right to be wary of data collection these days but it's rare that companies who aren't in the business of data monetization will abuse it. Sometimes companies have these agreements to protect them from legal challenges from the likes of the EU who will fine them for collection of data without consent so they explicitly ask for consent and then people get annoyed even though they signed up an account with an email address and likely used their phone number for two-factor authentication. They have to store these or you couldn't login to the account.
Apple has a similar privacy policy:
https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/pdfs/apple-privacy-policy-en-ww.pdf
The reason this game is free and others are discounted is they are promoting the new Borderlands 4 game coming out as the article mentions.
FYI- most any toll-free number you call will see your phone number, and as far as I know – even if you have it blocked. Anyone you use a credit card with well get the phone number you used to get the card.
Requiring you phone number was once also a security measure. There are some analog ways of getting your card information that wouldn't include your phone number, so that's often used as a check against fraud. The CCV makes the phone number unnecessary but it's still required for the most part.
Not quite on topic, I just want Chop Lifter for macOS, iOs, iPadOS.