While it may seem obvious that the Borderlands franchise isn’t going away, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford has now explicitly confirmed that more Borderlands is coming, saying “We’re working on the big one.” Shutting down one rumor just to create another; While Pitchford stops short of saying a title, it could be inferred from the context of his tweet that the team is working on Borderlands 4.
Pitchford’s comments came after rumors of a new Borderlands spin-off game “that will deliver something different.” The Borderlands series does have some offshoots, namely Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel or Tales From the Borderlands. Pitchford, unprompted, decided to defend against details that weren’t even part of the rumor, reiterating the Gearbox does not assist or co-develop Borderlands games or their spin-offs. Rather, he insists that “Gearbox is the lead dev of any future games in the Borderlands franchise (or Borderlands adjacent games) with no co-development.
I am told of rumors that Gearbox is “assisting” or “co-developing” another Borderlands game (or a new spin-off game). These rumors are NOT accurate. Gearbox is lead dev of any future games in the Borderlands franchise (or any Borderlands adjacent games) with no co-development.
— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) May 6, 2021
While the tweet seems to rule out the possibility of another collaboration with a developer like Telltale for a unique take on the franchise, it also kind of comes out of nowhere. The original rumor doesn’t even assert who would be developing this hypothetical Borderlands spin-off game. However, Pitchford didn’t stop there. He continued to double down, and may have even confirmed that they are working on Borderlands 4.
“We’re working on the big one,” Pitchford said in a call to action for potential development talent to “get in on some Borderlands action.”
More: We are definitely working on some amazing stuff that, I hope, will surprise and delight you. Plug: if anyone out there has Skills-To-Pay-Bills and wants to get in on some Borderlands action, we’re working on the big one 🙂 https://t.co/Pp5iTUBwAt https://t.co/ExjXEbU30R
— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) May 6, 2021
“The big one” sure doesn’t sound like a simple spin off. It sounds a lot like Borderlands 4. In fact, Kotaku, who first noticed the odd wording of Pitchford’s tweet, notes that the Gearbox CEO used identical wording in 2015 when calling for talent to work on what was revealed to be Borderlands 3. However, Pitchford also used other popular developer buzzword phrasing like “surprise and delight,” so saying “the big one” could just be a flippant comment that we shouldn’t read into all that much. Is this the big one? The bigger one? Perhaps the biggest one?
What we know for certain is that Gearbox is working on more Borderlands, and it’s “the big one” following the last “big one,” which turned out to be Borderlands 3. Is it Borderlands 4? And what is the rumored “something different” that will define this game in particular? Will Gearbox chase the massively multiplayer and bigger shared world experiences of games like Destiny or even Fortnite or Warzone?
The original rumor claims “A new Borderlands is much closer than you think. Not a numbered one, but what you might call a spin-off,” as well as “Don’t worry. This game will deliver something different that I can’t wait to see the reactions to.” Combined with Pitchford’s comments about this next game being “the big one,” there’s a lot of potential here for where the Borderlands franchise could head next.
Gearbox was recently acquired by THQ Nordic parent company Embracer Group, becoming a new group under that umbrella. At that time, Gearbox also said it has a lot of new IP concepts it can now take risks with, thanks to the backing of its new owners. However, with Pitchford specifically mentioning Borderlands and addressing Borderlands rumors, it looks like his recruiting call is for whatever the next Borderlands game is, not one of these other new IPs. No matter what it is, Pitchford’s attempts to squash one rumor seem to have just ignited a whole lot of new speculation.
[Source: Kotaku]