Gearbox Asks Fans to Help Shape Future Borderlands, Teases 'Exciting Overall Direction' for the Franchise

Borderlands developer Gearbox is calling on fans to share their ideas for the next game in the series, as the studio begins work on 'an exciting overall direction.'

Borderlands 4 has just completed its Year 1 of DLC, and in a note to fans today, Gearbox made its long-awaited future content announcement, confirming that more is on the way for the looter shooter next year. 'Moving forward, Weekly Activity refreshes and Community Challenges will continue,' Gearbox said. 'We just wrapped our Year 1 roadmap, and the team is cooking hard on more Borderlands 4 content for next year.' Beyond the weekly refreshes and community challenges, specifics were not provided.

Gearbox then spoke vaguely about its plans for the future of the Borderlands franchise, asking fans for their opinions. 'The team is constantly listening to community feedback, and they are exploring additional character arcs, storylines, and an exciting overall direction for the future of the franchise,' Gearbox said.

The studio continued: '... we’re also taking a bigger look at the franchise as a whole. Where can we take it next? What characters do you want to spend more time with? What stories deserve a payoff? A huge part of that is listening to you. Keep the conversation going - we're listening. Tell us what you think! Share your thoughts with us on social and tune into the Gearbox Devcast. We’re always responding to community feedback on that show.'

However, don't expect an announcement of Borderlands 5 or whatever the next game ends up being called anytime soon. It sounds like early days. 'All that said, big plans take time, and we need some room to work,' Gearbox added. 'You can trust that we’ll talk more when the time is right. Now is your chance to influence what we’ll say. We’re listening and we’re working hard for you. Thanks for being with us in the Borderlands.'

The announcement comes as the Borderlands franchise crosses 100 million units sold. Over the summer, fans questioned how well Borderlands 4 had performed not just in launch sales but in ongoing player base, and how that might have affected Gearbox's plans, as they waited for confirmation of a second year of support.

Since launching in September, Borderlands 4 has faced various controversies, mostly related to severe PC performance issues. Outspoken CEO Randy Pitchford went on the offensive, responding directly to complaints on social media and clapping back at disgruntled fans.

Strauss Zelnick, boss of Gearbox parent company Take-Two, previously admitted that Borderlands 4 sales had suffered 'a little bit of softness' due to the technical issues but expressed confidence 'it’ll all be made up' given enough time. The Nintendo Switch 2 version was scrapped, with Take-Two saying Gearbox had prioritized continued 'improvements' to the game on its existing platforms.

Meanwhile, Borderlands 4 remains on a 'mixed' user review rating on Steam. After launching to over 300,000 concurrent players on Valve’s platform, Borderlands 4 now averages a concurrent peak in the four digits. Steam numbers do not paint the entire picture of a game’s popularity as it’s also on consoles, but it’s clear Borderlands 4 could use a boost.