OP, Borderlands 2 recently had a rootkit added to it.
this post was submitted on 05 Jun 2025
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Ah, that would explain all the recent "Mostly Negative" reviews.
Calling a EULA update a rootkit is a bit of a stretch https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/borderlands-is-the-latest-battleground-for-steam-review-bombing-but-the-justification-is-extremely-flimsy/
I'm not saying the EULA is good but this isn't a binary situation where it's either "a rootkit" or "good".
Edit: The game itself has not been updated in 3 years, so saying "recently had a rootkit added to it" is at least misleading: https://steamdb.info/app/49520/patchnotes/
The first negative review I found:
Take-Two and 2K games have updated all their games Terms of Service, turning this game as well as all of their other games into literal spyware.
Important Info in Terms of Service:
• Mods are a bannable offense
• Display of Cheats/Exploits is bannable
• Forced arbitration clause and a waiver of class action and jury trial rights for all users residing in the United States and any other territory other than Australia, Switzerland, The United Kingdom, or The Territories of The European Economic Area
• You can be banned for using a VPN while connecting to online servers
• Cannot access game content on a Virtual PC
Collected Data Types:
• Identifiers / Contact Information: Name, user name, gamertag, postal and email address, phone number, unique IDs, mobile device ID, platform ID, gaming service ID, advertising ID (IDFA, Android ID) and IP address
• Protected Characteristics: Age and gender
• Commercial Information: Purchase and usage history and preferences, including gameplay information
• Billing Information: Payment information (credit / debit card information) and shipping address
• Internet / Electronic Activity: Web / app browsing and gameplay information related to the Services; information about your online interaction(s) with the Services or our advertising; and details about the games and platforms you use and other information related to installed applications
• Device and Usage Data: Device type, software and hardware details, language settings, browser type and version, operating system, and information about how users use and interact with the Services (e.g., content viewed, pages visited, clicks, scrolls)
• Profile Inferences: Inferences made from your information and web activity to help create a personalized profile so we can identify goods and services that may be of interest
• Audio / Visual Information: Account photos, images, and avatars, audio information via chat features and functionality, and gameplay recordings and video footage (such as when you participate in playtesting)
• Sensitive Information: Precise location information (if you allow the Services to collect your location), account credentials (user name and password), and contents of communications via chat features and functionality.
If all this is true, it's a bit much. I don't touch anything that comes from Gearbox anyway, but I still find it concerning.
No guessing is required, the actual EULA is available to be read: https://store.steampowered.com//eula/49520_eula_0 (assuming the correct EULA is being linked from the store page edit: ..which may not be the case based on the last-updated date (maybe Steam doesn't have the current version?)
Based on what I'm seeing here so far, I would describe that review's language as sensationalist
edit2: based on the available information (namely frames from the video sparking the backlash) this IS the same EULA that's being blasted, so my original comment stands
edit3 electric boogaloo: people are calling it "the EULA" but it seems like the main contention is over the privacy policy (with just some of the modding stuff etc being in the EULA): https://www.take2games.com/privacy/en-US/
Man I'm so fucking tired of this sensationalist bandwagoning part of the internet. Turns out changing the platform to fedi/threadi doesn't solve the problem because it's fundamentally the people that are the problem 🙃
I stand corrected
by posting a comment supported by sources
I have literally linked:
- the updated EULA
- the updated Privacy Policy
- records of when the game was updated
- an article discussing the changes
jesus christ lol, the root level comment saying "Borderlands 2 recently had a rootkit added to it" is not supported by any of the available evidence but is STILL getting promoted here and elsewhere (like the Steam reviews) despite all of the above - so no, piss off dude, I HAVE posted comments supported by sources - they're just being ignored by you and others
Sorry mate I failed to pick out your user name and thought you just tagged on with only that comment.
I've rescinded mine
Avoid this one.