Borderlands 2 to receive Colorblind Mode in upcoming update

All versions of Borderlands 2 are set to receive a colorblind mode in an upcoming update to cater to players with color vision deficiency, according to a Gearbox blog post by developer Jeffrey "botman" Broome.

When colorblind mode is enabled, item cards for objects — such as weapons, shields, grenade mods, class mods and relics — will feature its respective rarity color name in text. This includes items that are located in chests, vending machines and player inventory.

"For Borderlands 2, it would be difficult to add anything to the existing loot beam displayed in the world since it's not easy to modify the existing particle effects after the game has shipped," Broome wrote. "But we can add text to the item card to display the color of the item when you get close enough to see the item card with the stats on it.

"I chose to use the name of the color (‘green,' ‘blue,' ‘orange') rather than the rarity name (‘uncommon,' ‘rare, 'legendary,' etc.) because not everyone would know what color corresponds to ‘uncommon' or 'very rare' and because there is already a loading screen tip that tells you the order of the colors (white, green, blue, purple and orange)."

Once the update rolls out, colorblind players will be able to choose between three types of color vision deficiency settings — Deuteranopia, Protanopia or Tritanopia — via the video options menu. Broome notes that due to a last minute bug detection, players with protanomaly or protanopia should use the deuteranopia setting until the issue is "hot fixed." A release window for the update is yet to be announced.

Ubisoft's Rocksmith 2014 Edition also featured a Colorblind Mode. The new mode saw the game's note highway of color-coded prompts replaced with a unique palette of colors.