When Will We Get A Borderlands 4?
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Welcome to Pandora, the colorful, chaotic, kill-or-be-killed world of the Borderlands video game franchise. From its humble beginnings in 2009 to its multi-media adaptations, Borderlands is known and revered by fans of video games, comics, novels, and even tabletop games! With the recent release of the Borderlands movie, the franchise is back in the spotlight (for better or worse) and fans are asking a very important question: when will Borderlands 4 be released?
Created and produced by Gearbox Software and published by 2K Games, Borderlands is a first-person co-op shooter-and-looter game set in the world of Pandora, a desolate desert inhabited by the desperate, deviant, and diabolical. As one of four Vault Hunters, your aim is to survive long enough to loot Vaults, perfect your build, and arm yourself with the most badass weapons possible. The game can be played solo or cooperatively with up to three other players. Following the unexpected success of the first game, four downloadable content (DLC) packs were released that added new quests, missions, locations, and characters, showing just how creative and diverse the game is.
Borderlands 2 followed in 2012 and became the best-selling game in the history of 2K Games. It’s still considered by many to be the best of the series, despite some other phenomenal games over the years. This is partly thanks to its antagonist, Handsome Jack, one of the most charismatic and memorable bad guys of the entire series. Five DLC packs were later released for Borderlands 2, introducing new playable characters and quests.
Among these was Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep. It’s an insane mix of Dungeons & Dragons and Borderlands, starting with an in-game tabletop RPG called Bunkers & Badasses. With Tiny Tina as Game Master, your party of monster-slaying Vault Hunters set off in search of loot. Despite being DLC, Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep in many ways feels like an entirely new game. The mechanics and gameplay are consistent with Borderlands 2 but the brand-new quests, locations, and characters set it apart from its parent game. The dialogue is razor-sharp and shockingly funny, as we’ve come to expect from the Borderlands games. The game inspired a real-life Bunkers & Badasses, a tabletop RPG by Nerdvana which has gained its own following over the years.
After Borderlands 2, Gearbox Software and 2K Games took their time exploring what they could and should do with the wonderful mayhem they had created. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, released in 2014, is set between Borderlands and Borderlands 2 and follows Jack (destined to become Handsome Jack) on his various quests. The mechanics and play style are the same as the other games but The Pre-Sequel’s new characters and level designs are enough to satisfy fans without deviating too much from the well-worn and successful formula.
Also in 2014 came Tales from the Borderlands, an episodic adventure produced through collaboration with Telltale Games. Tales from the Borderlands is an entirely different game in terms of gameplay and mechanics but fans were surprised by how good it is. The characters are colorful and engaging, the writing is hilarious, and the plot and setting are as imaginative and wacky as ever. It had such a positive audience reaction (with a Metacritic score of 85) that Gearbox and 2K produced New Tales from the Borderlands in 2022, despite Telltale Games’ demise in 2018. And while New Tales recreated some of what fans loved most about the first Tales, it didn’t quite succeed in matching its predecessor for humor, cleverness, or content.
In 2019, seven years after Borderlands 2, fans finally received the long-awaited Borderlands 3. With new playable characters, new villains, and the same beloved gameplay mechanics, Borderlands 3 was everything fans hoped it would be. The villains may not have the stage presence of Handsome Jack but the threat they pose feels real enough to have you reaching for your biggest gun. The motion and shooting mechanics are better compared to Borderlands 2 and the arsenal of firearms is more impressive than ever. While many still hold Borderlands 2 more dearly in their hearts, Borderlands 3 certainly doesn’t disappoint.
Demonstrating how they can maintain consistent tone and quality across a 10-year timespan, Gearbox and 2K set themselves a difficult task after Borderlands 3. How do you top not one but two excellent games? How do you keep things fresh without losing the parts that fans love most? So far, the companies have walked this line well, and they continued to do so in 2022 with Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. This latest installment starring everyone’s favorite explosives expert brings us another Bunkers & Badasses adventure. The game keeps the first-person shooter play of the other Borderlands games but shakes things up with different character styles and mechanics. Overall, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is a delight for fans who love the original games as well as those who enjoy something a little different.
At the top of the article, we mentioned the recent release of the Borderlands movie. Despite its all-star cast, the movie has performed dismally and has a current Rotten Tomatoes score of 10%. After the successes of Fallout and The Last of Us, hopes have slowly risen that the major studios might, at last, have cracked the code for adapting great video games into good movies and TV series. Sadly, these hopes have been crushed. Borderlands’ chaotic, larger-than-life characters, its action-packed gameplay, and its vibrant, captivating visuals are what make it unique. So when a movie fails to capture any of those things… well, the result is disappointing, to say the least.
If fans are good at anything, however, it’s embracing the good over the bad. The question on everyone’s mind now is – will there be a Borderlands 4? And if so, when?
We’re thrilled to share the news that broke during gamescom 2024: Borderlands 4 will be coming in 2025. Gearbox CEO, Randy Pitchford, has been teasing the announcement for months. In an interview with GamesRadar in July 2024, he said that fans would be “very, very happy” with the next game from Gearbox and wouldn’t have to wait long before the announcement. Actually, his exact words were “We’re working extra hard four you on what’s next…”, leaving fans in no doubt about what was in the pipeline. However, we were all prepared for a long wait – the time between Borderlands 2 and 3 was seven years and we were ready to resign ourselves to at least a few more years before we could get our hands on the fourth installment. The news that the game will be launched next year has surprised and delighted fans, as has the teaser trailer that was released with the announcement. While we don’t know exactly when Borderlands 4 will reach us, knowing it’s not far off is enough for now!
Have you played the Borderlands games and, if so, which ones are your favorites? If you’ve seen the movie, how does it compare to the games in your opinion? Let us know in the comments section below! And don’t forget to subscribe to our free newsletter, PopPulse Digest, for all things gaming, pop culture, online deals, and more.
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