Launching exclusively on the Epic Games Store helped Borderlands 3 reach a new audience.

That's according to the title's senior producer Anthony Nicholson, who told PCGamesInsider.biz that Borderlands 3's success on PC was a combination of built-up excitement for the game and new players coming to the franchise via the Fortnite firm's platform.

Following the game's launch, the CEO of developer Gearbox Randy Pitchford said that Borderlands 3 had double the peak concurrent player figure of its predecessor, meaning it had around 248,000 people playing at one time. Ten days after release, publisher 2K revealed that this new entry had tipped the franchise over $1bn in lifetime revenue, with five million copies shipped. Not only that, but 70 per cent of sales within Borderlands 3's first five days in the wild were made digitally, with sales on Epic's storefront being described as "incredibly strong."

"The appetite amongst fans was definitely there, but Epic have been great partners and have done a lot to help us reach new players as well," Nicholson told PCGamesInsider.biz.

"So I’d say it’s a combination of everything that’s culminated in the success we’re seeing."

Nicholson also said that the community that has grown around the franchise was a huge part of Borderlands 3's success.

"A lot of that has to do with Borderlands 2. We loved and believed in the game back when it launched in 2012, but I’m not sure we could have anticipated the fandom that’s grown around it since then," he said.

"It’s both staggering and humbling and drives us to do what we do the best we can for those fans. That community has definitely kept enthusiasm for the franchise alive, and that’s likely encouraged more and more people to give the series a try. Add that to all the work our devs and marketing teams did over the last six months to get the game in front of so many people, and thankfully I think it added up to there just being a lot more Borderlands fans out there now."

You can read more about Borderlands 3's launch in our interview with Nicholson on Friday