No it doesn't have spyware.
It's people misunderstanding something.
As per usual, they are making a mountain out of a mole hill.

No. It is not true that everybody says that.
I got the game. I plan to play it offline with no internet.
But I have different reasons.
If there is spyware, then my "no internet" policy should solve that as well.

you can read it for yourself in their new TOS. it is the definition of spyware. anyone who says it isn't is either confused or a troll


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.

Only the truly paranoid think it has spyware.

Originally posted by Capyboii:

Hello guys, last night i see borderlands 2 free and i install this game and i see on google everyone say this game have spyware, is that true ?

Not true.

Originally posted by Mountain Months:

you can read it for yourself in their new TOS. it is the definition of spyware. anyone who says it isn't is either confused or a troll


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.

That's not new since 2018, but nice try.

Originally posted by Capyboii:

Hello guys, last night i see borderlands 2 free and i install this game and i see on google everyone say this game have spyware, is that true ?

no spyware but people are going on about the user agreement what was changed recently or not so long ago, but most companies are collecting your information so that part is nothing new:

Warning, they apparently changed the user agreement to require root level data and threats of game bans for any sort of modifcation or vpn usage

Originally posted by Mountain Months:

you can read it for yourself in their new TOS. it is the definition of spyware. anyone who says it isn't is either confused or a troll


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.

Dude this means is now spyware XD

Originally posted by GIOKEY:

Originally posted by Mountain Months:

you can read it for yourself in their new TOS. it is the definition of spyware. anyone who says it isn't is either confused or a troll


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.

Don't most companies do that? It's always been that way. Even if you used Facebook or one of its services, it's the same; it collects the same information.
Or are people just learning to read?
Remember, many people just click "accept" without actually reading.
Conclusion: This has always existed.

The CC and DC numbers are illegal to any company to acquire without your express authorization

I installed it. Controller did not work. New ToS forbid mods. I uninstalled it and left a negative review.

The game may be old but Gearbox can choose to add controller support. If they are real devs then they will find a way to make it happen.

Originally posted by KOZ:

The CC and DC numbers are illegal to any company to acquire without your express authorization

You do realize that all that section refers to is that they will need that information for when in-game purchases are made directly through the game, right? It's standard boilerplate wording including even if a specific game has no real-word money in-game store.

Originally posted by Mountain Months:

you can read it for yourself in their new TOS. it is the definition of spyware. anyone who says it isn't is either confused or a troll


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.

You can copy, but can you think as well? Where is the proof this specific product actually collects exactly this data? That's just a general terms of use statement.

Besides that, yes, 2K and Gearbox games are data-hungry. But that's nothing new. You can check out some of my older reviews from 2022 and 2023 about Gearbox and 2K products.

2K is the kind of company that uses these texts copy-paste. That’s been their approach for years. Which doesn’t make it any better. Something like that should really be prohibited by law.

Consumers should first learn what’s actually running on their devices and what these texts actually mean. Focus on facts instead of starting witch hunts. But when someone does point out the facts with the real software behavior like me, it’s often defamed too, because then the tinfoil hat arguments and insults get dragged out.

If you really want to be consistent, stop buying products from 2K/Take-Two Interactive/Gearbox and remove existing titles from your library. Simple as that. Cutting off the money and data flow is the most effective way. Anything else is just a joke to the publisher.

Sounds to me like the game itself is not determining your age and gender, but rather the privacy policy is written to say that that information might be collected and processed by their service (for example, as part of a voluntary survey or in a forum profile).

Seems pretty ridiculous to me that a video game would be able to figure out someone's birth date without being specifically told that by the player.

Originally posted by Ben Lubar:

Sounds to me like the game itself is not determining your age and gender, but rather the privacy policy is written to say that that information might be collected and processed by their service (for example, as part of a voluntary survey or in a forum profile).

Seems pretty ridiculous to me that a video game would be able to figure out someone's birth date without being specifically told that by the player.

It's the usual case of some braindead grifter not understanding what they are reading and riling up everyone who cannot think for themselves.

In the end, it doesn't collect any more info than Ubisoft or EA. So pick your poison, either play games from most major studios and have your data collected or stick to indie games that don't.

Originally posted by steven1mac:

In the end, it doesn't collect any more info than Ubisoft or EA. So pick your poison, either play games from most major studios and have your data collected or stick to indie games that don't.

Don't be mistaken. Many "indie"' games nowadays collect just as much data as AAA titles, whether it's due to game-engine behavior or the use of third-party services.

Excessive monetization and data collection have also become a standard there. Partly even without the developers' knowledge. The kind of "indie" games you're referring to barely exist anymore, if at all.