Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford may be hinting at a new Borderlands game
Pitchford said on Twitter that Gearbox is looking for help "working on the big one."
There is no question that we will, someday, get a new Borderlands game. The videogame industry is borne on the wings of sequels, after all, and Borderlands 3 was a major success. But it's starting to look like it might arrive sooner than expected.
The wheels started turning on Gamereactor, which recently said that a new Borderlands game "is much closer than you think." Interestingly, the site said that the game won't be a numbered sequel, but a spinoff of some sort. No evidence was provided to back the claim, but it gained a little more plausibility when VentureBeat reporter Jeff Grubb weighed in.
"Gearbox I believe is going to have that spinoff of Borderlands that is rumored," he said in a stream. "They might not necessarily be developing, but I think they're involved with those games, always. They own part of the IP, along with Take-Two, so it would make sense to me. I haven't confirmed that game for sure, but I saw that Gamereactor story and I kind of heard about that too, and that sounds right."
That's where things get interesting, because Grubb's remark prompted Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford to get involved with a tweet that fell somewhere between a conspicuous non-denial and an outright tease.
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/ExjXEbU30RMay 6, 2021
"I am told of rumors that Gearbox is 'assisting' or 'co-developing' another Borderlands games (or a new spin-off game)," he tweeted. "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."
"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 :)"
It's nothing more than idle chit-chat, but Pitchford hasn't previously been shy about teasing new stuff on Twitter in the past. The timing is also interesting: Borderlands 3 will be two years old this fall, the same age that Borderlands 2 was when Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel launched.
The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
This is also the time of year when teases for new games start to spin up: E3 2021, where this kind of thing is traditionally revealed to the public, is just over a month away.
Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.
Path of Exile 2's genius theorycrafters have already put together some wild builds, so we've plucked out a few of our favorites that you need to try
The voice of Shadowheart, Jennifer English, would love to return to the role after Baldur's Gate 3—as long as Hasbro doesn't mess it up and 'make her into a cartoon'