Gearbox to release 10 IPs by 2026, so Borderlands 4 should already be in development
What started as a shot at making a decent looter-shooter, now sits as the biggest franchise created by Gearbox Software. The Borderlands series has been a source of huge revenue for Gearbox, and it’s not just about the money, since it takes a truly good game to charm an even wider majority of players. As a result, Borderlands 4 has landed itself the status of “most wanted”, and that’s not all.
The third installment’s launch in 2019 was the biggest one yet for the franchise. Despite its somewhat obvious flaws, the general consensus remains that it’s still a great game. But it’s common knowledge that when a game’s this good, there’s always demand for a sequel. And that poses us with the daring question of when Gearbox will make Borderlands 4.
Well, there aren’t any official reports that the game exists, but knowing Gearbox’s history, they’re always concocting something. So, here’s an overview of every believable rumor going around about the sequel.
Is Borderlands 4 Even Happening?
Borderlands 4 hasn’t been officially announced, so anybody saying otherwise is downright lying. Sure, there have been numerous rumors, and if you logically take everything into perspective, then odds are high that the game is far into development.
Since Borderlands 3, the most recent mainline entry into the uncanny series, Gearbox has made and released two spin-off games set in the same continuity. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands and New Tales from the Borderlands both launched in 2022, and it’s still a little hard to fathom that the studio managed to put out a AAA action game and a classic cinematic graphic adventure game within a 3 year timeframe.
Most developers like Santa Monica Studio take around 5 years to make a AAA happen, and for others like Rocksteady, even 8 years are too short considering that their highly anticipated Suicide Squad has, reportedly, once again been pushed back.
Back to the topic on hand, yes, personally, I guarantee Borderlands 4 is more than just a pipe dream. Borderlands 3 has surpassed 15 million in units sold and has now pushed the entire series’ lifetime sales to a whopping 77 million. This formally makes the Borderlands a billion-dollar universe. You’d have to be insane or arrogant to not capitalize on that potential, but thankfully, Gearbox isn’t either.
Embracer Group’s earnings call might’ve confirmed Borderlands 4
In February 2022, the Embracer Group held an earnings call, and during the meeting, the company hinted at its future roadmap of titles. Among other studios, including THQ Nordic (Darksiders), and Coffee Stain Holding (Goat Simulator), Gearbox Software is a part of the Embracer group too, so naturally, it would be under discussion.
Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors stated:
“Gearbox are heavily recruiting across their studios……There are also titles that are externally [being] developed, of those 10 titles, there are a few that are more in the concept phase or in the preproduction phase.”
In another meeting, Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox, commented that from those 10, a handful of games being developed are for pre-existing IPs. When you have 10 games in concept stages, it doesn’t take a fortune-teller to tell you that at least 1 of them will be a follow-up to their biggest IP — that’s your cue Borderlands 4.
When’s Borderlands 4 Releasing?
There is no release date for Borderlands 4 at the moment. That being said, there are a lot of theories circulating that point towards it coming out by 2026.
During the earnings call mentioned above, it was also revealed that Gearbox Software’s upcoming roster of titles, which includes 10 to be specific, will fully be released onthe market by 2026. And since the meeting’s giving off the impression that Borderlands 4 is indeed one of those games, it too should be in our hands by then.
The developers haven’t let any leaks slip through, so there isn’t much to speculate in that area, but Gearbox’s CEO does cryptically tweet from time to time.
Well, this specific tweet was aimed at nullifying all rumors saying the Borderlands series was shifting houses, but while assuring that the series is still in Gearbox’s hands, Randy did mention the studio working on “the big one” currently. That could be any sequel as far as I can tell, but if we’re talking big, there isn’t any bigger franchise the studio has than the one in question.
Do we seriously need another Borderlands?
Borderlands is Gearbox’s most active IP, there’s no doubting that. In the past decade, we’ve seen nearly a dozen different releases such as Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Tales from the Borderlands, Borderlands: The Handsome Collection, Borderlands 3, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, and so on and so on.
Every other year there’s a new story coming out. We had two in 2022 alone, and at the rate the studio is going at it, Borderlands 4 looks to me as a matter of WHEN more than IF. Sure, this science fiction gunslinging odyssey is epic in its own way, but people are starting to think that it may have buried Gearbox’s other series like Duke Nukem, and Brothers in Arms, and that’s a fair assumption.
Tiny Tina’s spin-off was a good change of pace since it was even weirder than how weird the universe already is, but it still is in no way a substitute for the other games fans want to see. Even with that, I’d be baffled if they didn’t end up making a Borderlands 4 considering it’s already statistically proven it’d be a hit.
The chance of us seeing any other Gearbox IP in the near future is grim. For now, the light at the end of the tunnel is the announcement for 10 new games by 2026. One of them has got to be something other than Borderlands — at least I hope.
A movie is in the works, a sequel might be in the backlog
In case you missed it, Borderlands has become so popular that apparently a film adaptation was greenlit in 2015.As the movie nears completion and is set to be out within a year, there is a small possibility that Gearbox may choose to avoid a potential collision between the release date of Borderlands 4 and the film’s box-office debut.
The movie would surely increase the popularity of the franchise, and it’d undoubtedly get even more people to check out the series, just like what The Last of Us’ television show has done. A hype train would prove substantial for all future Borderlands projects, and would likely increase sales. Anyhow, this does sound a bit dubious, but it’s a point to ponder.
Hopefully Borderlands 4 Won’t Look Like A DLC
I felt alive after playing Borderlands 3 for hours straight. The feeling of nostalgia kicked in so hard that a part of me teleported back to 2012 when the last main game came out. I kept on playing some more and killed just about every Psycho psychotic enough to come at me with a shotgun, but the longer I played, the clearer a shocking realization hit me.
Borderlands 3 presented a good story, and the dialog and world remain as freakish as the day I first saw them, but the visuals looked as if they were straight out of 2012. If you were to drop me in a random mission in Borderlands 2, and 3 side by side without telling me which one is which, I would have an aneurism figuring out the answer. I wouldn’t be able to tell a hair’s difference if it wasn’t for the better gunplay, but in everything else, they’re the same game.
And it isn’t just me, there is a decent number of gamers in the community who, although, adore Borderlands 3 otherwise, just don’t see what has changed in these past 8 years regarding the style of art. I get it, don’t fix what isn’t broken, but Gearbox’s team might’ve etched this too deep into their hearts, like way too deep.
Aside from a few minute changes with Lilith’s clothes, new protagonist designs, and weapon skins changing with upgrades, everything from the Bandits to the Psychos looks like reused assets. Nobody would’ve seen this as a cause for concern if Borderlands 3 was part of a yearly series similar to how the Assassin’s Creed games are, but with the gap being almost a decade long, it’s an absurdity.
Hopefully, Borderlands 4 has some revolution with its graphics, and it amounts to more than being just a level and DLC pack splashed with loads of weapons. Old habits do die hard, so for now, we’ll just have to wait and see whether Gearbox goes above and beyond with the visuals or just sends another expansion our way.
Tayyab’s an anime & gaming enthusiast, and since he can’t make them (yet), he loves to write about why he finds them amazing.
Also, he’s a huge Hideo Kojima fan, and everything else that’s Japanese for that matter.