Borderlands 4 is one of the best-looking upcoming space games of 2025. It might even make us forget how godawful the Borderlands movie was. Maybe. With a release date locked in and plenty of details floating in orbit, here's the scoop on Borderlands 4 so far.
Leaving Pandora behind, the fourth mainline Borderlands game is moving the action to the all-new planet of Kairos. After Borderlands 3 and the spinoff New Tales from the Borderlands left fans underwhelmed, this is the big shake-up that the long-running RPG series needed.
Developer Gearbox is keeping most story details hidden away in a vault, but chances are we'll be learning more about the game's main baddie and the many dangers that await the 'vault hunters' sooner rather than later. The story also introduces a new villain in the shape of The Timekeeper, a planetary dictator opposed by the Crimson Resistance and The Rippers. On the gameplay front, we know that things are staying mostly familiar, although both combat and movement appear to have been leveled up.
Overall, Borderlands 4 is looking fiercer, bigger, and more relentless than anything we've experienced before in the gun-and-loot series, and we are here for it. If you want to catch up on the series ahead of Borderlands 4, check out our comprehensive roundups of the Borderlands games in order and Borderlands games, ranked.
What is the Borderlands 4 release date?
After much speculation, publisher 2K and developer Gearbox confirmed earlier this year that Borderlands 4 is set to release on most platforms on September 12, 2025 (The Switch 2 version will arrive a few weeks later, on October 3)
After being initially set to launch on September 23, 2025, the date was moved slightly forward during April 30's 'deep dive' stream. Considering most video games are hit with delays nowadays, the opposite suggests both 2K and Gearbox are confident in Borderlands 4 and its pre-launch state.
What platforms will Borderlands 4 be available on?
Borderlands 4 will launch on Xbox Series X/S, PC (Epic & Steam), PS5, and Nintendo Switch 2.
The Nintendo Switch 2 version was announced during the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct at the start of April. To the surprise of no one, last-gen consoles were left behind, allowing the developers of Borderlands 4 to work on and apply bigger innovations beyond graphical fidelity.
We have now seen how the world of Kairos comes together in uncut gameplay, so it's safe to say the switch to beefier base hardware has affected the complexity of the level design and the navigation possibilities (as well as the potential carnage), among other things.
Borderlands 4 Trailers
Surprisingly, barely anything leaked before Gearbox and 2K were ready to reveal that Borderlands 4 was coming and the official teaser trailer didn't appear until August 20, 2024. It was a very cinematic and intriguing first look that made us question for a hot second if the series' signature cel-shaded aesthetic was being dropped (thankfully, it wasn't). You can watch it below:
Only a few months later, on December 13, 2024, we were introduced to the four new vault hunters as well as plenty of menacing enemies. It also gave us our first look at many of the locales we're going to be visiting come September. Meet them here:
On February 12, 2025, a short but explosive gameplay trailer dropped. This put the focus back on the moment-to-moment gameplay with guns, abilities, and sick moves that highlight how fast and furious Borderlands 4 is compared to previous entries. Watch it here:
On April 30, a special 'State of Play' deep-dive stream revealed plenty about two of the game's playable vault hunters, environments, new RPG elements, and shiny loot. Get a solid rundown of everything that's new in this installment with this generous preview:
Alongside the extensive gameplay deep dive, a short but frenetic gameplay trailer was shared to hype up fans and casual gamers alike. So, please do go and enjoy this barrage of glorious and colorful sci-fi carnage:
On top of several character ‘gameplay overviews’ that’ll be released over the coming weeks on the official YouTube channel, a proper ‘story trailer’ told us everything we needed to know about the plot and its main players ahead of launch. It was released on June 21, and you can watch it here:
What is the plot of Borderlands 4?
Spoilers for Borderlands 3 ahead.
Borderlands 3, as uneven as its writing was, ended on a high note and left a couple of good cliffhangers waiting to be picked up by the fourquel: Lilith sacrificed herself in order to save Pandora from being destroyed by its moon, Elpis, after the villains Tyreen and Troy Calypso learned the celestial body was the literal key to opening the Great Vault that is Pandora itself. We'll spare you the details, but it's unclear whether Lilith survived or not. What we know for sure is that she teleported Elpis away from Pandora and to an entirely different system.
The teaser trailer revealed where Pandora's moon ended up: right next to Kairos, which 2K and Gearbox describe as "the most dangerous planet" in the Borderlands universe (of course). This is bad news for Kairos' inhabitants, but it seems they already had problems on their hands with The Timekeeper, "a ruthless dictator" who runs the planet with an iron fist. Enter the new team of vault hunters. Does Kairos even have a vault of its own? We can't wait to find out.
We have learned two key things about the conflict on Kairos ahead of the game’s release.
First, Claptrap has started a rebellion dubbed the ‘Crimson Resistance’ to give the people on the planet some hope. But of course, we’re not expecting this resistance to do much without the vault hunters’ help.
Second, another faction, The Rippers, also oppose The Timekeeper and had their ‘control bolts’ removed; the problem is they also want to leave Kairos and conquer the universe. Expect them and Callis, the Ripper Queen, to be a major obstacle as the plot advances, too.
As Gearbox prepares for the game's launch in September 2025, much of the plot and the protagonists have been revealed gradually. Borderlands games typically aren't shy nor secretive during their marketing campaigns, so we're expecting almost all the cards to be laid out on the table well ahead of the release.
What type of game is Borderlands 4?
Borderlands 4 is sticking to the signature first-person action-RPG nature of the previous installments and will be burying us in colorful loot once again. The main difference when compared to other famous action-RPG series is that Borderlands games put never-ending, brutal shootouts front and center. Level up, grab better weapons, fight bigger enemies. Rinse and repeat. You know the drill.
There's a fun narrative and solid world-building holding it all together, but it's ultimately all about the immediate fun factor with imaginative guns, fantasy-like abilities, and class-based progression reminiscent of games like Diablo. Press releases have been hyping up Borderlands 4's all-new build possibilities and expanded 'loot chase', so it appears the creatives doubled down on the series' strengths and are spicing things up. Environments and traversal are also evolving, seemingly encouraging exploration in a bigger way than ever before.
At the time of writing, the store pages for the game have also confirmed that local split-screen play for two players is back alongside four-player online co-op. In this age of local co-op being left behind, it's great to hear Borderlands 4 will be retaining this staple. It also looks as if an MMO structure like Destiny or Warframe's isn't on the cards for Borderlands anytime soon.
