Gearbox Now Developing ‘Borderlands 3’ – Game Expected To Have ‘True Open World’
Back in May, developer Gearbox Software released Battleborn, which was met with mixed reviews. Now, it’s being reported that Gearbox is turning their focus to the highly-anticipated Borderlands 3, which is rumored to be released at some point in 2018.
Borderlands 3 was a no-show at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), which disappointed fans of the series. However, the game was never expected to be announced at the event, and it’ll likely be announced at next year’s E3.
Back in April, Gearbox confirmed that they would begin working on Borderlands 3 at some point this year. Fans of the series are hoping that the game will evolve in terms of the open world gameplay, much like Borderlands 2 did back in 2012.
According to IGN, Borderlands 3 will feature a “true open world,” and, as previously mentioned, its gameplay will be much more evolved than it was in Borderlands 2.
As for what characters will be featured in Borderlands 3, well, that has yet to be revealed. Of course, the series’ main villain – Handsome Jack – was killed at the end of Borderlands 2. He was brought back in Telltale’s Tales from the Borderlands, but he was killed off in the final episode of that series as well.
Two years ago, Gearbox released Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, which told the story of Handsome Jack’s rise to power, and how he became the game’s main villain. They could end up doing the exact same concept with the next game, but this time, they could end up telling the story of another character’s rise to power.
Back on April 22, Randy Pitchford, who is the President and CEO of Gearbox, announced that Scott Kester, who was Battleborn’s art director, was moving on to the next Borderlands project.
Today, here's what you learned: Battleborn art director, Scott Kester, is moving on to next Borderlands project.
— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) April 23, 2016
During an interview with IGN, Pitchford said that he hadn’t yet decided what he was going to call the next Borderlands project, adding that it would be irresponsible to name it at this point in the development.
“What we call it and what it is are things we care about and we’re engaged about but it would be irresponsible to share anything at this stage, because almost certainly anything we’re thinking now is going to change between now and when we commit ourselves.”
At PAX East earlier this year, Pitchford once again said that he doesn’t know what the next Borderlands title will be called and that it may end up being called Borderlands 4.
“We don’t even know if we’re going to call it Borderlands 3. We could call it Borderlands 4 for all we know.”
He also said that fans of the series should expect to hear more details on the next game at some point next year, which suggests that the game will be revealed at either PAX East or E3 2017. Also, he claims that Gearbox is going to do things that they haven’t done before with the next Borderlands game.
While fans of the series are eagerly awaiting the release of Borderlands 3, they’re also hoping for Season 2 of Tales from the Borderlands. But, as of this writing, that hasn’t been announced, although, due to the success of the first season, it would make sense for Telltale to produce a second season. In fact, that may end up being their next project after they’re completely finished with The Walking Dead: Season 3, which is set to be released this coming October.
[Image via Sports Keeda]
