With Borderlands 4, developer Gearbox is aiming to dial back the comedy and give players a more grounded storyline, which can lead to chuckle-worthy moments that feel organic, not forced.
Speaking to IGN, Gearbox narrative director Sam Winkler, lead writer Taylor Clark, and managing director of narrative properties Lin Joyce spoke about how the Borderlands 3 expansions helped lay the groundwork for the story of Borderlands 4.
“I’ve been on the game for a couple of years, and it was definitely something from the moment that I came on-board, when I was talking to Sam, the grounded tone was a priority,” Clark said. “Grounding the humor in the world, he made it very clear that if I tried to put a meme in the game, he would come to my house with a baseball bat [laughs]. So, it was definitely in the brief from the beginning to make the tone fit the world.”
Winkler did add that there is a meme in Borderlands 4, but it’s one that he felt justified in adding to the game because he “accidentally” created it–just don’t expect Hawk Tuah or Skibidi Toilet.
Clark explained that the shift in tone was also necessary, as the game takes place on the authoritarian world of Kairos, not the “wild west” of Pandora and its surrounding planets that were home to corporations waging war on each other. Combined with a deeper focus on open-world exploration, the Borderlands 4 team wanted to make sure that humor “wasn’t just some sticker that we’re slapping on something” as players explored Kairos.
“At no point did we say, ‘Let’s stop being funny in Borderlands. Let’s not do that anymore.’ It is still a Borderlands game made by a Borderlands team, many who have been here since 1,” Joyce added.
As mentioned above, the Gearbox team laid the foundation for this new approach in style and tone with the expansions of Borderlands 3. DLC like Moxxi’s Heist of the Handsome Jackpot, Bounty of Blood, and Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Flustercluck were generally well-received after launch, as these were seen as a course correction for the game’s narrative.
Not only did these expansions offer a sharper sense of humor, but they were also surprising with their themes of love, closure, revenge, and redemption that were organically woven into their individual storylines. Additionally, senior project producer Anthony Nicholson explained to GameSpot in an interview earlier this year that Gearbox is “really proud” of its past titles and the jokes in them, but times change and the studio wants to enter its “Simpsons era” with Borderlands 4.
Borderlands 4 launches on September 12 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, with a Switch 2 launch lined up for October. If you’re looking to grab the game and you’re still undecided on which Vault Hunter you want to play as, you can check out deep-dives on all the abilities and skills that characters like Harlowe, Amon, Rafa, and Vex bring to the table.
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