Borderlands 4 is the fifth main entry in Gearbox Software's Borderlands game series. It was announced at Gamescom on August 20, 2024, and was released on September 12, 2025.
Story
Borderlands 4 takes place on Kairos, six years after the teleportation of Elpis into the planet's orbit. Elpis' arrival destroyed the shield hiding Kairos from the rest of the universe and unleashed chaos and civil uprisings that threaten the rule of The Timekeeper, the planetary dictator.[7][8] The Timekeeper is opposed by the Crimson Resistance and The Rippers.[9]
Prior to its release, the game was advertised as having a darker tone than previous entries in the series.[10]
Plot
Six years after the Moonfall incident revealed the location of Kairos, a new generation of Vault Hunters arrives on the planet to find its Vault, which is protected by the planet's dictator the Timekeeper and his Order forces. The Timekeeper quickly captures the Vault Hunters and forcibly implants bolt control devices into them before they are rescued by Arjay of the Crimson Resistance, a group rebelling against the Timekeeper's rule. When the Timekeeper attempts to seize control of the Vault Hunters, Arjay sacrifices himself by jamming the Timekeeper's control, but leaves his own bolt vulnerable. The Timekeeper forces Arjay to kill himself while the Vault Hunters make their escape to the headquarters of the Crimson Resistance, where they find its leader and sole survivor, Claptrap.
Claptrap recruits the Vault Hunters into the Crimson Resistance, and tasks them with gathering additional allies from all around Kairos so they can strike back against the Timekeeper. They first manage to recruit Rush and his Outbounders, a group of offworld travelers who were stranded on Kairos, and Zadra, a former Order scientist who defects to the Crimson Resistance. Zadra explains that the Timekeeper has sealed himself away at the Vault, and the only way to access it is to acquire the command Bolts of his three top lieutenants: Idolator Sol, Vile Lictor, and Callis. The Vault Hunters assist the Outbounders in eliminating Idolator Sol, who was developing a bioweapon to wipe them out. They then collect Idolator Sol's command bolt while earning the loyalty of the Outbounders.
The Vault Hunters then go to assist the Electi, a group of Order nobles led by Levaine who were left to fend for themselves against the Rippers, a bandit army led by Callis, who betrayed the Timekeeper by ripping out her own bolt. The Vault Hunters make a deal with Levaine to fight the Rippers and eliminate Callis in return for her bolt. Short on manpower and resources, Levaine is also forced to join forces with her ex-lover and Vault Hunter Zane, who crash landed on Kairos with Moxxie. They are able to break the Rippers' siege, but not before Callis is able to steal her bolt back. Working together, the Vault Hunters and Zane pursue Callis, who they discover is using her bolt to try and reach Elpis to pursue her belief that she can ascend to godhood there. The Vault Hunters eliminate Callis and collect her bolt, which earns the loyalty of Levaine and the Electi to the Crimson Resistance.
When the Vault Hunters decide to pursue Vile Lictor, Zadra instructs them to find Defiant Calder, who leads a rebel faction of the local Augers. Defiant Calder instructs the Vault Hunters to recover an Eridian relic sacred to the Auger. Upon obtaining the Relic, the Vault Hunters hear a mysterious voice instructing them to "search for the Siren", and that "Eridium is the key". Defiant Calder directs the Vault Hunters to a Siren who has recently visited them, the Vault Hunter Amara. She explains that she arrived on Kairos to search for the missing Lilith. They raid one of Vile Lictor's labs under the belief that he is keeping Lilith as a test subject for his research into Sirens and the Phase Dimension, but the test subject flees. As reality begins to break down from Vile Lictor's experiments, the Vault Hunters and Augers assault his fortress and eliminate him. The Vault Hunters encounter the test subject again, who reveals himself to be Arjay, who was subjected to torture and experimentation to become an artificial Siren. However, the experimentation has left his mind unstable, and he plans on trapping Lilith in the Phase Dimension forever as his revenge against her before making his escape. With Vile Lictor dead, the Auger clans reunite and pledge their loyalty to the Crimson Resistance.
With all three command bolts in her possession, Zadra reprograms them to gain access to the Vault, but she points out they still need to get inside the Timekeeper's capital Dominion City. Amara suggests finding Lilith, who is trapped in the Phase, with the only known Phase portal being in the remains of Elpis. The Vault Hunters, Amara, and Zane take the space elevator Callis built, fighting off a hostile Arjay on the way. They are also followed by Callis, who was kept alive due to her cybernetic enhancements. Amara uses Elpis' core to open a Phase portal which the Vault Hunters use to retrieve Lilith, and they subsequently kill Callis again, who is furious Lilith is Kairos' prophesized savior instead of her. Lilith teleports the group back to Kairos' surface, while a falling piece of Elpis breaks open a breach in the walls of Dominion City. However, the Timekeeper lures the Vault Hunters into a trap and mind controls them into killing Zadra before they break his control. Angered, the Vault Hunters continue their assault and confront the Timekeeper, who reveals his true nature as a Vault Guardian. The Vault Hunters manage to kill the Timekeeper and dismantle his Ordrer, freeing the people Kairos and ending its isolation from the rest of the universe.
The Vault Hunters then proceed to open the Kairos Vault, but are interrupted Arjay who is determined to fight them to the death. The Vault Hunters are forced to kill Arjay and end his suffering. Lilith then arrives and leads them into the Vault, where they find it contains a future version of Lilith who warns them about the impending end of the universe. The future Lilith gifts the Vault Hunters a mysterious cube, which she explains will hopefully be the key for them to survive what's to come before disappearing. Lilith then takes the Vault Hunters back to Moxxi's bar, which will serve as the new base for the Crimson Raiders and she instructs the Vault Hunters to continue dealing with the threats that remain on Kairos.
Character Classes
Borderlands 4 has four playable characters:
- Vex the Siren - Vex had a rough upbringing that was made more complicated by receiving her Siren powers. Her cynical and sarcastic demeanor comes from having to fend for herself and scrape for everything she's got. But underneath her salty exterior, Vex is an empath who knows better than anyone how much life can suck. Ever the pessimist, Vex still believes in helping others. And if helping others means dealing damage to oppressive jerks, Vex will always be first in line.
- Rafa the Exo-Soldier - Rafa was born and raised in microgravity, which severely altered his bone density and musculature, making it impossible for him to survive elsewhere. Desperate to explore, he signed up to Tediore's military force. In exchange for a tour of duty, his body was altered for a new kind of exo-suit. But when it became clear Tediore never intended to end his service, Rafa went AWOL. Now he's on the run and plans to enjoy whatever time he has left before his Tediore Deadframe ends him for good.
- Harlowe the Gravitar - Harlowe is a former Maliwan combat scientist, driven by the need to understand how things work. While this initially made her an outcast amongst her Traunt relatives, Harlowe has used her intellect to bring new tech and gadgetry to the battlefield as a Vault Hunter. Harlowe's brilliance is apparent in everything she does, but so is her enthusiasm and love for life. Harlowe brings everything to the fight, including her sunny disposition. Always ready to give a beat down, her spirit can't be beat.
- Amon the Forgeknight - Amon was raised in a Vault monster-worshipping cult—until the Vault was opened and the creature turned on everyone he loved. As the only survivor, he dedicates his life to finding and killing as many of these beasts as he can. Amon, a warrior-poet, is introspective and unflinching to his duty, but despite his hardened appearance, he has a warm attitude, often regaling comrades in arms with stories and advice earned throughout his travels.
DLC characters:
- C4SH the Rogue - C4SH is a CasinoBot with a new lease on life. After winning a high-stakes card game, he gained a magical deck that imbues him with eldritch boons. This would be a cursed trophy for most people, but for a robot who has been able to game the solar system's casinos and battlefields with statistical knowledge, he finally knows what unpredictability feels like. For the first time, he feels human. This drives him to play nothing safe, always bet on himself, and take as many risks as possible. (Released on Thursday March 26, 2026)
- Loveless the Hacker - Loveless is an ex-Anshin hacker turned assassin. Equipped with the highest-end cybernetics, Loveless also shares her mind with a digital virus of her own creation, which can digistruct into a physical form that acts as a deadly extension of her shared, perfection-seeking will. (Releasing in early September, 2026)
Gameplay
Borderlands 4 'has "a more open, explore-the-world-around-you feeling", with seamless travel between most zones.[11] Kairos is divided into four zones. It also has a vehicle-on demand system and occasional weather.[9]
A compass system was originally planned to only have a compass and not a mini-map, but the minimap was added due to user demand.[12]
Mechanics
Vault Hunters have three switchable Action Skills. These skills can be modified with augments and capstones, that are a kind of socketed enhancements system. Vault Hunters also have a unique passive skill, called a trait.
The different ways to move in-game are:
- Dash
- Slide
- Double jump
- Climbing
- Point grapple
- Glide
Weapons
- Main article: Borderlands 4 Weapons
Randomly-generated weapons return in Borderlands 4 with a new Licensed Parts system. The game also introduces a new ordnance slot that groups together grenades and heavy weaponry, including rocket launchers. Weapons in the ordnance slot can be fired or thrown until ammo is depleted, and possess cooldown timers that refill ammo and activation over a short timeframe.
Gear
- Main article: Borderlands 4 Gear
A new item type called "Enhancements" that provides bonuses to weapons with licensed parts from specific manufacturers replaces artifacts. The game also introduces "repkits" that can regenerate health or grant other buffs like increased elemental damage, fire rate, and movement speed.
Enemies
- Main article: Borderlands 4 Enemies
Development
Borderlands 4 was teased in early 2024 before being revealed later in the year at Gamescom with a short teaser trailer.[13]
A trailer containing gameplay footage was released at the Game Awards on December 12, 2024.[14]
On April 29, Randy Pitchford announced that Gearbox was upping the release date from September 23[15] to September 12, 2025.
An official 20-minute gameplay deep dive was published on April 30, 2025. More gameplay was revealed in June, during a gameplay test event.[8]
On September 23, Borderlands 4's release date was delayed on Switch 2 and all preorders were refunded.[1]
Post-Release Content
Released
| Content | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Horrors of Kairos | Seasonal Event | 10/23/2025 - 11/6/2025 |
| How Rush Saved Mercenary Day | Bounty Pack | 11/20/2025 |
| Bloomreaper the Invincible | Raid Boss | 12/11/2025 |
| Photo Mode | New Feature | 1/29/2026 |
| Legend of the Stone Demon | Bounty Pack | 2/26/2026 |
| Mad Ellie and the Vault of the Damned | Story Pack | 3/26/2026 |
| Shared Progression Toggle | New Feature | 5/28/2026 |
| Subjugator and Thol the Invincible | Raid Boss | 5/28/2026 |
Upcoming
- 25th, June 2026[16]
- Takedown 1: Takedown at Hadron Abyss
- Bounty Pack 3: A Zane to Kill For
- Cross-platform saves
- July 30th[17]
- Bounty Pack 4: Murders & Acquisitions
- Early September
- Story Pack 2
- Bounty Pack 5
Media
Images
Videos
Trivia
- In late 2024, Caleb McAlpine, a Borderlands fan suffering from a terminal cancer diagnosis, was able to play Borderlands 4 early. Randy Pitchford flew McAlpine to Gearbox's headquarters to play the game and meet development staff.[18]
Reception
Borderlands 4 officially broke a franchise record on Steam just an hour after launch, pulling in over 148,000 concurrent players. This rose to 198,000 concurrent players.[19]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://x.com/Borderlands/status/1970609156936868102
- ↑ Borderlands 4 @ epicgames.com
- ↑ Borderlands 4 @ steampowered.com
- ↑ Borderlands 4 @ nintendo.com
- ↑ Borderlands 4 @ playstation.com
- ↑ Borderlands 4 @ xbox.com
- ↑ Borderlands 4 FAQ, 2k.com
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Borderlands 4 - Official Gameplay Deep Dive, BorderlandsGame@YouTube, 2025-04-30
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Gearbox said Borderlands 4 isn't an open-world game, but it sure looks open-world to me: tons of aerial movement, "no need to pick up a mission" for many surprises, and your own vehicle on command, gamerant.com
- ↑ Why Borderlands 4's New Planet Could Be a Double-Edged Sword, gamerant.com
- ↑ Gearbox didn't set out to create an open-world game with Borderlands 4, but the FPS does have "open-world-like features, such as seamless travel between zones", gamesradar.com
- ↑ Don't judge Borderlands 4's lack of minimap just yet - Gearbox boss says using it would be "extremely confusing" in the FPS' "big freaking world", gamerant.com
- ↑ https://gamerant.com/borderlands-4-reveal-trailer-release-window-2025/
- ↑ First Full-Length Borderlands 4 Trailer Debuts At The Game Awards, thegamer.com
- ↑ File:Borderlands 4 - Release Date Trailer
- ↑ https://borderlands.2k.com/borderlands-4/news/subjugator-and-thol-out-now/#:~:text=Takedown%20and%20Bounty%20Pack%203,June%2025%20with%20Version%201.8!
- ↑ Borderlands Roadmap
- ↑ Terminally Ill Fan Plays and Praises Borderlands 4, gamerant.com
- ↑ Borderlands 4 is Already a Big Hit, gamerant.com
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||