Borderlands 3 trailers reveal more-derlands

Developer Gearbox finally revealed Borderlands 3 today. During a panel presentation at PAX East in Boston that involved stage magic and technical difficulties, the studio showed a 4K trailer for sequel to its breakout looter shooter.

Gearbox did not provide a release date, but it did promise that it would share more on April 3.

The trailer, however, did give a good look at what players should expect. It once again features a new cast of playable heroes for its four-player cooperative action. But this still looks like a Borderlands game.

The studio is sticking with the series’ cel-shaded visual style. It is also promising over 1 billion procedurally generated guns.

More-derlands — get it?

But it’s not necessarily a bad thing that Boderlands 3 is more Borderlands. The shoot-and-loot genre is now dominated by huge, ongoing live service games. Destiny 2, The Division 2, and Anthem are all ongoing and want players to return regularly.

Borderlands originally debuted before that business model, and it’s possible that Borderlands 3 may try to stick to that. For players looking to get into and out of a game with a definitive ending, Borderlands 3 could deliver an oasis from our live-services future.