Borderlands 4 Game Awards Trailer Expected To Divulge Details on Returning Characters

[Cpt.Jank]

The annual Game Awards is just around the corner, with the opening night scheduled for December 12, and gaming industry big-shots have teased that there are big announcements coming. One such announcement is the reveal of the second Borderlands 4 trailer, which is all but confirmed for The Game Awards, thanks to Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox Software. We already know the game is planned for release sometime in 2025, but fans are itching to know more about what's to come from the looter shooter that dominated the early 2010s. Around the same time, Andy Robinson, CEO of Video Game Chronicle, teased that he is "Expecting a VERY big Game Awards next week," going on to hype up his followers with "Fire up the hype train."

Pitchford, who has a reputation for being very active on X, recently posted a not-so-subtle confirmation that Gearbox was working on a new trailer for Borderlands 4. Without revealing much more, Pitchford teased that the next trailer would start where the first left off, suggesting that we may find out more about whom the cybernetic arm at the end of the teaser trailer belongs to. So far, prevailing fan theories and speculation around the owner of said arm propose that it is a hint at the return of Gaige, a playable character, and fan favorite, from Borderlands 2. This is a plausible guess, since the Borderlands franchise is known for bringing back characters from previous games, and it wouldn't be the first time we will have seen a former playable character turn NPC.

Randy Pitchford @DuvalMagic - Dec 5
Cooking up a new Borderlands 4 trailer and it's badass af. Latest render is knocking me out. I'm not supposed to talk about it yet, but idgaf. I'M FREAKING OUT, yo.

Regardless of who features at the end of the original Borderlands 4 teaser trailer, we'll likely find out a lot more about the game's aesthetics, plot, and gameplay in the coming weeks and months, whether that be via The Game Awards or other Gearbox announcements.

See the already-released Borderlands 4 teaser trailer below:

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[Space Lynx]

Mad respect to this company for letting that guy play Borderlands 4 before he died, he was considered terminal and one of his last wishes was to play this game. This company has done this for a previous game for someone else as well.

Just mad respect for that.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

BL3 was pretty mid. Knowing Pitchford, his ego and past drama(s). I dont trust a thing he says but I'll reserve judgement until the final product is out.

 

[mechtech]

I still think the 1st one was the best. Didn't need a lifetime to fully complete it.

 

[Launcestonian]

Another BL coming up... good! I enjoyed the last few. Bring it on asap.

 

[Dr. Dro]

Another BL coming up... good! I enjoyed the last few. Bring it on asap.

I'm curious on how are they gonna pull it off, without making it feel completely stale. 3 left few loose ends.

 

[Vayra86]

I still think the 1st one was the best. Didn't need a lifetime to fully complete it.

Yeah I was already treading into 'omg is it still not done yet' in Borderlands 2. Its nice being so big, but a lot of its size is also just size. Lots of terrain. Still not sure why its there. I never got triggered enough to play 3 yet, and I'm unlikely to be playing 4. The first one though I completed several times.

Also that schizophrenic Randy Pitchford retweeting himself in a monologue is just instant turn off. Get a life, loser. 'My phone is blowing up after I did a thing guys hahaha' Yeah Right, that totally wasn't planned PR. Please, hand me a puke bucket?

 

[tpuuser256]

Jesus, chill out.

 

[Arkz]

Randy Pitchford @DuvalMagic - Dec 5
Cooking up a new Borderlands 4 trailer and it's badass af. Latest render is knocking me out. I'm not supposed to talk about it yet, but idgaf. I'M FREAKING OUT, yo.

Why does he talk like a teenager? Also, meh. BL2 was good, BL3 was just ok. That Tiny Tina one from a few years ago was bland. I have no expectations for this, except for maybe mediocrity.

 

[Dr. Dro]

Why does he talk like a teenager? Also, meh. BL2 was good, BL3 was just ok. That Tiny Tina one from a few years ago was bland. I have no expectations for this, except for maybe mediocrity.

Have you played Borderlands 3? If so, you'd probably have it figured out.

The main plot is that cringeworthy

 

[Scattergrunt]

I still think the 1st one was the best. Didn't need a lifetime to fully complete it.

As a borderlands fan since the very beginning, honestly I think its still the worst one but the only reason why is purely because the story is pretty much non-existent rather than just flat out bad like BL3. Exaggerating obviously but its very flat and plain, and considering BL1 was massively changed from reveal trailer to release, it might of been rushed at the end. I dont know though.

I think too many people think that completing the entirety of BL2, which is by many fans and my owns admission a bloated game, is a bit much. Finish Normal & TVHM, go after the legendaries you want, call it a day. I am a bit biased because I have completed every single character multiple times all the way up to OP8 / OP10.

Tangent aside, BL3 was nice in that regard because the endgame didnt have as much content but wasnt nearly as much of a time investment IMO.

I'm curious on how are they gonna pull it off, without making it feel completely stale. 3 left few loose ends.

Considering BL3's iteration on gameplay was great, I really hope that they figure out the story and all the little other things. The premise of BL4 sounds like a good launching point. Lets just hope they dont ruin it through death by a thousand cuts and shock value deaths.

Also that schizophrenic Randy Pitchford retweeting himself in a monologue is just instant turn off. Get a life, loser. 'My phone is blowing up after I did a thing guys hahaha' Yeah Right, that totally wasn't planned PR. Please, hand me a puke bucket?

Its Randy. Dude is his own form of mental illness. I dont have a issue with him expressing excitement but im honestly just numb to his weirdness and other, awful things. Not that he shouldn't be called out for them, I should clarify

 

[mechtech]

As a borderlands fan since the very beginning, honestly I think its still the worst one but the only reason why is purely because the story is pretty much non-existent rather than just flat out bad like BL3. Exaggerating obviously but its very flat and plain, and considering BL1 was massively changed from reveal trailer to release, it might of been rushed at the end. I dont know though.

I think too many people think that completing the entirety of BL2, which is by many fans and my owns admission a bloated game, is a bit much. Finish Normal & TVHM, go after the legendaries you want, call it a day. I am a bit biased because I have completed every single character multiple times all the way up to OP8 / OP10.

For 2 I found Jack yapped too much and got annoying, the slag also annoying, Torgue was ok though. After 150 hours I think I had one charater at lvl 72. With my time constraints if I can't max lvl a character in 40 hrs or less (not cheating) I don't even bother now. For 3 just did the main missions to beat the game and that was it, never played it again.
I prefer the menu layout in 1 among other things as well.

 

[Scattergrunt]

For 2 I found Jack yapped too much and got annoying, the slag also annoying, Torgue was ok though. After 150 hours I think I had one charater at lvl 72. With my time constraints if I can't max lvl a character in 40 hrs or less (not cheating) I don't even bother now. For 3 just did the main missions to beat the game and that was it, never played it again.
I prefer the menu layout in 1 among other things as well.

The first game definitely had the most charm and unique looking menus. I miss the look of the menus from 1. Honestly it never really took 150 hours for me to get a character to level 72, maybe around ~60 at worst. Even after they raised the level cap to 80 and added more OP levels to muddy the already messed up balancing of BL2 endgame. I don't blame you for not wanting to spend so much time in a game if you have limited freetime as is to play videogames all day.

Cryo will always remain superior to slag in my mind, but slag has its run. Just wish the endgame didnt make it so intolerable and literally nearly impossible to finish the whole game on OP10 without slag.

Jack's character is definitely hit or miss. I think he holds the same kind of intrigue a character like GLaDOS does where he is initially very one-note but you learn more about his character as you go on. Even more so when you remember that both franchises (Portal and BL) have games made after the initial games these characters were made for that delve into their backstories a bit. Ones a sequel, ones a prequel. Yada. I really enjoyed jack though, but I think its good he only appeared in two games. Still would take Jack over whatever was going on in BL1.

 

[Dr. Dro]

The first game definitely had the most charm and unique looking menus. I miss the look of the menus from 1. Honestly it never really took 150 hours for me to get a character to level 72, maybe around ~60 at worst. Even after they raised the level cap to 80 and added more OP levels to muddy the already messed up balancing of BL2 endgame. I don't blame you for not wanting to spend so much time in a game if you have limited freetime as is to play videogames all day.

Cryo will always remain superior to slag in my mind, but slag has its run. Just wish the endgame didnt make it so intolerable and literally nearly impossible to finish the whole game on OP10 without slag.

Jack's character is definitely hit or miss. I think he holds the same kind of intrigue a character like GLaDOS does where he is initially very one-note but you learn more about his character as you go on. Even more so when you remember that both franchises (Portal and BL) have games made after the initial games these characters were made for that delve into their backstories a bit. Ones a sequel, ones a prequel. Yada. I really enjoyed jack though, but I think its good he only appeared in two games. Still would take Jack over whatever was going on in BL1.

I really disliked slag mechanics in Borderlands 2, but maybe it's just me. It felt like the whole thing was designed with co-op in mind to have someone playing Maya and constantly slagging everything while everyone else dealt damage (and I was a Maya main back when I was playing it), eventually it just became too try hard-ey for me. Bless the gibbed save editor, screw it, past a point, I quit caring. Farming the same boss literally 1,000 times to get a bee shield was just not fun. Borderlands 3 was *much* better in that regard, it wasn't obnoxious when it came to farming and just by playing rationally you could have a whole arsenal of high-quality legendaries

 

[Scattergrunt]

I really disliked slag mechanics in Borderlands 2, but maybe it's just me. It felt like the whole thing was designed with co-op in mind to have someone playing Maya and constantly slagging everything while everyone else dealt damage (and I was a Maya main back when I was playing it), eventually it just became too try hard-ey for me. Bless the gibbed save editor, screw it, past a point, I quit caring. Farming the same boss literally 1,000 times to get a bee shield was just not fun. Borderlands 3 was *much* better in that regard, it wasn't obnoxious when it came to farming and just by playing rationally you could have a whole arsenal of high-quality legendaries

I dont remember any item in the game requiring that many retries besides the Cobra and Perfect Hide of Terra, and some of the pearls if you're trying to farm a very specifically parted pearl from the tubbys. Then again, my experience with the game at launch is very muddy in my memory. I just dont remember any of the legendaries or uniques which werent uniquely special being that awful of a grind. A mix of BL1 world drops and BL2's Dedicated Drops would be nice, and BL3 almost achieved this but they made the legendaries too common imo even then.

Maybe BL4 will finally get the best of both worlds? Or just continue what BL3 did as the people who dont enjoy the rates for it (which is primarily just a vocal minority which includes people like me) are well, a minority. Majority of people enjoy the rates of legendaries in BL3.

Maybe if they brought back pearls and didnt make them 90% of them awful like they did in BL2 that would be something worth hunting for. BL3 just really didnt have that 'Endgame item which you can spend hours going for' kind of item, and while I apperciate the fact the grind wasnt so painful for most people, for people like me who have way too much freetime and possible insanity, it kind of just felt like it was meh.

I'd agree with you on slag. Its why I prefer cryo. Its a more interesting element while still providing a unique utility that you can use to benefit the rest of your arsenal just like slag. Also cryo is just cooler. Dont care what anyone says. Freezing a bandit alive is alot cooler than throwing the equalivent of purple paint on them and magically doing double damage.

 

[Dr. Dro]

I used to like the Unkempt Harold, which needed double-penetrating prefix and of course, the right substats... weapons in Borderlands are pretty much like the substats on relics and artifacts in Honkai Star Rail or Genshin Impact, but the grind is several times more brutal, and that's saying something

 

[Scattergrunt]

I used to like the Unkempt Harold, which needed double-penetrating prefix and of course, the right substats... weapons in Borderlands are pretty much like the substats on relics and artifacts in Honkai Star Rail or Genshin Impact, but the grind is several times more brutal, and that's saying something

Only thing that really matters on the Unkempt Harold is prefix and avoiding hyperion or tediore grip (presumably what you meant by 'substats'). Matching (Torgue) or Jakobs are great, and Dahl is serviceable. Honestly weapon parts dont mean much of anything super important till UVHM where they become extremely important due to how oppressive that mode is. In TVHM and Normal Mode you can get away with having bad parts. Any of the prefixes besides double penetrating are also perfectly usuable besides bayonet.

Your chances of getting the Unkempt Harold are 10% as is, for a weapon that regardless of parts in normal mode can carry you up until the bunker pretty much if your investing in the right skillpoints or even farther with bad#ss rank. Even in TVHM if you immediately go for a harold you can keep it for a decent bit. Too many people are hyperfixated on getting perfect gear or else its not worth using when that onyl really matters in UVHM. And like I've mentioned before, you should probably just avoid UVHM if you are playing BL2 and arent seriously dedicated to finishing a character.

A perfect Unkempt Harold is also not really that terrible of a farm if you go through Savage Lee, 10% for the harold, 12.5% for the grip, 14.29% for the accesory for perfect matching grip DPUH. Trust me, theres so much worse in this franchise. The Nemesis Invader Hybrid from BL1 and Perfect Hide of Terra, The Cobra from BL2, etc etc. I woudn't say the grind in BL2 is actually that bad for most of the legendaries or uniques. Especially on modern machines where you can restart the game or level to respawn a named enemy who drops X thing very quickly nowadays. I dont know anything about Honkai or Genshin to compare though.

I liked BL3 in the regard that it added so many unique weapon parts but their importance in endgame becomes way less important compared to BL2 or BL1. I think the way they balanced parts in that game was basically perfect, plus they brought back some of the old parts from BL1 that we really enjoyed. Except the Anarchy barrel part for SMGs. But thats probably for the best. Hope to see BL4 continue this trend.

 

[Dr. Dro]

Only thing that really matters on the Unkempt Harold is prefix and avoiding hyperion or tediore grip (presumably what you meant by 'substats'). Matching (Torgue) or Jakobs are great, and Dahl is serviceable. Honestly weapon parts dont mean much of anything super important till UVHM where they become extremely important due to how oppressive that mode is. In TVHM and Normal Mode you can get away with having bad parts. Any of the prefixes besides double penetrating are also perfectly usuable besides bayonet.

I liked BL3 in that regard. I think the way they balanced parts in that game was basically perfect, plus they brought back some of the old parts from BL1 that we really enjoyed. Except the Anarchy barrel part for SMGs. But thats probably for the best. Hope to see BL4 continue this trend.

Yeah, the weapon parts and characteristics comprised the "substats", I just gotta say BL2 would have been 10x more enjoyable back then if you could pick and choose the parts, even if at a high eridium cost or perhaps by sacrificing other legendaries, but of course, they didn't have enough foresight to add that

 

[Scattergrunt]

Yeah, the weapon parts and characteristics comprised the "substats", I just gotta say BL2 would have been 10x more enjoyable back then if you could pick and choose the parts, even if at a high eridium cost or perhaps by sacrificing other legendaries, but of course, they didn't have enough foresight to add that

I updated my post to reflect some more knowledge, but considering I have 2000 hours in BL2, I dont think the grind was that bad, but I'm clearly a little biased lol. BL1 is even worse because theres no dedicated drops and your only reliable farm besides General Knoxx DLC Armory or Crawmerax (armory is at minimum level 35+, Craw is always near max level in both playthroughs) was the giftshop at the end of the Claptrap Revolution DLC, which certain legendaries were still very hard to get from there, such as the Unforgiven.

I think the fact we have so many good weapons in BL3 that aren't legendary or unique purely from weapon parts is another good thing too. BL1 had this aswell with the Gamble Snipers and Double Anarchy's, Helix Rocket Launchers, and Matador Shotguns. All very reliable, though inconsistently obtainable regular weapons. BL3 has its own equalivently good regular weapons aswell but my knowledge on BL3 is practically 0. But thats going a bit off topic regardless if I continue to ramble on.

I feel like having you choose weapon parts would also invalidate the point of random weapon parts, not that BL2 legendaries were very unique in terms of parts they could get anyway because they were always barrel, body, and manufacturer locked (fun fact: all legendary effects on nearly every single weapon in BL2 is locked to the barrel, unlike BL1.)

 

[mechtech]

The first game definitely had the most charm and unique looking menus. I miss the look of the menus from 1. Honestly it never really took 150 hours for me to get a character to level 72, maybe around ~60 at worst. Even after they raised the level cap to 80 and added more OP levels to muddy the already messed up balancing of BL2 endgame. I don't blame you for not wanting to spend so much time in a game if you have limited freetime as is to play videogames all day.

Cryo will always remain superior to slag in my mind, but slag has its run. Just wish the endgame didnt make it so intolerable and literally nearly impossible to finish the whole game on OP10 without slag.

Jack's character is definitely hit or miss. I think he holds the same kind of intrigue a character like GLaDOS does where he is initially very one-note but you learn more about his character as you go on. Even more so when you remember that both franchises (Portal and BL) have games made after the initial games these characters were made for that delve into their backstories a bit. Ones a sequel, ones a prequel. Yada. I really enjoyed jack though, but I think its good he only appeared in two games. Still would take Jack over whatever was going on in BL1.

Perhaps. Knox DLC was pretty decent with Knox, Athena and ENGORRRGE!! lol

I did find the vending machines good in BL1 for random legendaries.