Borderlands 4 trailer drops at the 2024 Game Awards

Move over, Borderlands movie that no one saw: Borderlands is back. The first trailer for Borderlands 4 is here, full of cinematics, gameplay, and the high-adrenaline comedy stylings the series has become known for.

As teased/squeed over by Gearbox Software founder Randy Pitchford in the days leading up to the 2024 Game Awards, the trailer for Borderlands 4 unveils to fans and skeptics alike a look at the first mainline entry in the Borderlands franchise in five years. While Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands and Telltale’s Tales from the Borderlands kept the gears turning for Gearbox over the years, Borderlands 4 gets back to the vault-hunting basics — and finds the studio under ownership of publisher Take-Two Interactive, which acquired it from Embracer Group in March.

Despite being kinda OK actually, Borderlands the movie was an enormous box-office whiff for Gearbox and Lionsgate, and during something of a video-game adaptation renaissance. Though Pitchford was hopeful in the lead up to the film’s release (“With a movie, we can reach a completely different audience [...] To me, that was why its worth existing,” he told Polygon in August), he ultimately Tweeted Through It.

His sights were clearly set on Borderlands 4, which he promised would reveal itself soon enough. So no one was surprised when, just a few days shy of a big Game Awards exclusive reveal, Pitchford burst with anticipation, tweeting: “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.”

After admitting he probably shouldn’t have said anything, Pitchford added, “I AM EXCITE!”

The gaming landscape has dramatically changed since Borderlands debuted in 2009, and how much the prospective audience might go for Borderlands 4’s“badass af” first-person antics seems completely up in the air, especially after the movie failed to connect and other legacy shooter properties like Halo and Gears of War attempt to reignite relevancy as well.

But we’ll know soon: Borderlands is due out in 2025.