Anticipation For Borderlands 4

2K Gaming Studio strikes again, with Borderlands 4 to release in September this year. Since the initial release of Borderlands in 2009, the hype has continued in the run-up to its fourth instalment.

When considering a game's popularity, it's important to consider that Borderlands 3 had considerably fewer sales than its BL 2 release, with two selling 30 million copies and BL 3 only 22 million. GameFAQs states, "If it's a niche title or an indie release, 1 to 2 million copies sold would make it very successful. If it's an AAA exclusive, like Halo or Uncharted, you'd expect 5 to 6 million copies sold, at the very least. Usually more. If it's a AAA multiplat, then 6 to 10 million copies sold at the very least, even more, if it's a really popular series."

Background

For those not familiar with the First Person Shooter Role Playing Game (FPS, RPG), the game is a cooperative looter shooter taking place on fictional planets, starting with Pandora in BL 1 and BL 4 will be on the planet Kairos, six years after the abrupt arrival of Elpis, which unleashed chaos unto the inhabitants, and through civil uprisings, threatens the rule of The Timekeeper, a planetary dictator.

A Redditor described the aim of the game as, "Kill bandits, level up, get better guns, wash, rinse, repeat. It's a little wacky and over-the-top, so expect some childish humour, but in a fun way."

Expectation

The general fan consensus is that the game franchise's peak was at its second release, with hardcoregamer.com listing it among the top 10 First-Person Shooter games of all time.

Where Borderlands stood out before the fourth release was the fun aspect of a first-person shooting game with bandits, weapons, vaults, sirens, and psychos. An unhinged barrier of entry when looking for a game to subdue boredom. Other than more serious FPS alternatives like Titanfall, Halo, and Call of Duty (COD).

Borderlands 4 creates mixed opinions among fans, with positives such as updated character designs and features like mission and boss replay. Their focus on a more mature version of the Borderlands franchise as known today has made fans cautious, as the formula to their success was their creative and fun FPS perspective, where the gameplay has shown more of a focus on the action roleplaying (ARPG) side of gaming.

Speculation arose when Gearbox switched their proposed release date from late September to early September, which led fans to believe there was pressure from coinciding their release with games that will most likely dominate sales, i.e., Grand Theft Auto VI. Head of gaming studio Gearbox (gaming studio for Borderlands) Randy Pitchford took to X.com to state, "Borderlands 4 shipping early is 100% the result of confidence in the game and development trajectory backed by actual tasks and bug find/fix rates," Pitchford wrote on X. "Our decision is literally 0% about any other product's actual or theoretical launch date."

To get a better sense of the game's theme, you can check out Liongate's adaptation on streaming platforms, released last year, featuring Cate Blanchett and Kevin Hart. Although it did not sell as expected, with their budget significantly exceeding box office sales and fans feeling that the movie was not too close to the gaming franchise, it could be your introduction to the Borderlandverse.

Glossary

AAA Exclusive… games with a high-budget, high-profile game only available on a specific platform.

AAA Multiplat… games with mega budgets, huge development teams, cutting-edge graphics, and often, recognisable franchises behind them

Sources

borderlands.fandom.com

gamefaqs.gamespot.com

vgchartz.com/game