Borderlands fans are in for a treat because publisher Take-Two has no plans on slowing down the franchise; in fact, players should expect to see even more Vault Hunters in the future. The long-running action RPG is widely regarded as one of Take-Two’s biggest series, with developer Gearbox earning plenty of praise designing a shooter that’s endless replayable, addictive, and oozing style. The studio has confirmed that it’s already working hard on the upcoming fourth mainline game, but that doesn’t mean the community can’t also look forward to some exciting spin-offs.
Per PC Gamer, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick stated that the company is happy to have acquired Gearbox from its previous owner Embracer, hinting that it wants to facilitate extensive work on Borderlands. The executive noted that Take-Two has “already identified many potential growth opportunities for the Borderlands series,” suggesting even more titles outside of the previously announced fourth game. The previous spinoff, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, proved to be a massive success for Gearbox, leading to reports that the studio was actively developing a sequel but these claims have yet to be verified by an official source.
There’s already speculation that Borderlands 4 could be much closer than fans expect with some claiming that it may be shown off during June’s Summer Games Fest. Whether that’s accurate remains to be seen but it would make sense for Take-Two to drop a new Borderlands game in 2024 given the imminent release of the live-action movie based on the franchise. The film is currently slated to arrive in theaters on August 9, so syncronizing the launch of Borderlands 4 with the movie to facilitate some cross-media hype would be a smart move to generate further hype for both productions.
Whether or not Borderlands 4 is released in next few months remains to be seen but there is a precedent for video game adaptations driving audiences to play the source material. Most recently, Prime Video’s Fallout series launched Bethesda’s games back into the spotlight as their player counts soared across all platforms. The developer even released a new “next gen” update for Fallout 4 to further encourage newcomers and veterans alike to return to the RPG.
If the next Borderlands game isn’t unveiled during Summer Games Fest, several other spin-offs could instead step into the spotlight. TheTales From The Borderlands series has a dedicated following and is widely regarded as one of the best titles produced by the now-defunct Telltale Games. It proved so popular that Gearbox released New Tales From The Borderlands in 2022 but this sequel wasn’t as big of a hit with fans.
Source: PC Gamer