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Subscribe from just £3 Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love Try a single issue or save on a subscription Issues delivered straight to your door or device From£9.99Subscribe now Gamescom 2025 schedule Battlefield 6 Horror Special New Games for 2025 Recommended reading Borderlands Borderlands 4 dev says "the way we've done guns before is great," but Gearbox is still overhauling its weapons to offer even "more opportunity for surprise" Borderlands As Borderlands 4 fans create a skill tree planner months before launch, creative director issues a reminder that "the game isn't done yet" and their builds are "subject to change" Borderlands Borderlands 4 has the "biggest world" Gearbox has ever made, and it's as seamless as it can be thanks to the power of "technical bulls***" that allows for "less borders, more lands" Borderlands Borderlands 4 will have a "very ambitious" endgame, but not everyone is happy about having less skill points as creative director argues "you lose build diversity" with too many Borderlands Randy Pitchford says Borderlands 4 is intended to "bring new people in" to the series, and I can only hope it's better at that than the Borderlands movie and its $110 million loss Borderlands Borderlands 4 is "turning out to be better" than Borderlands 3 "by every measurement we have, including subjective ones," Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford teases Borderlands Borderlands 4 has "more skills per character than in Borderlands 3 and 2 added together," Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford says: "We're working late on Fridays for you" Action RPGs Borderlands Borderlands 4 Borderlands 4 designer points to Baldur's Gate 3 as an RPG inspiration for Gearbox's new and improved buildcrafting: "I want to hit the end game and be doing billions of damage" Catherine Lewis 14 August 2025 Gearbox says you can use Borderlands 4's characters "in a bunch of different ways" When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: 2K Games) Good news, RPG fans – you can expect Borderlands 4 to tap way more into the idea of creating unique, personalized character builds, as lead character designer Nick Thurston points to Baldur's Gate 3 and Path of Exile as games that influenced his approach to the upcoming looter shooter. In an interview with Polygon, Thurston discusses the Vault Hunter Amon, specifically, noting that while "the idea of a brute is very satisfying," it's "also very one-note," which neither Amon – or Borderlands 4 more widely – are. As well as sounding like an interesting character when it comes to his backstory, he "alone has 87 passives," alongside the "Augment and the Capstone system" used to "drastically change the ability that each player has" on their skill tree, too. As Polygon points out, it sounds like Gearbox's upcoming instalment is leaning a lot more into the "RPG" part of the action RPG genre this time around, and perhaps that's no surprise given that Path of Exile and Baldur's Gate 3 were brought up as personal inspirations by Thurston, who is a self-proclaimed "min-maxer." You may like Borderlands 4 dev says "the way we've done guns before is great," but Gearbox is still overhauling its weapons to offer even "more opportunity for surprise" As Borderlands 4 fans create a skill tree planner months before launch, creative director issues a reminder that "the game isn't done yet" and their builds are "subject to change" Borderlands 4 has the "biggest world" Gearbox has ever made, and it's as seamless as it can be thanks to the power of "technical bulls***" that allows for "less borders, more lands" (Image credit: Gearbox) He explains: "When I play an action RPG, I want to hit the end game and be doing billions of damage, but I want to do it in the way I want to do. In a lot of cases, there have been times where previous characters in our franchise have been very focused on one thing. But it was always really important to me that if you have this really cool character, you're going to want to use him in a bunch of different ways." Thurston continues, explaining how Borderlands 4 should feel fresh every time you play thanks to all the different build variations you can lean into. "For me, whenever I'm playing an RPG and my friend picks a class, I don't want to pick the same class. It's like you're already doing this function, why do I need to do it?" he explains. "In previous Borderlands titles, you could be like, 'If you're going to be Zero and I'm going to be Zero then we're both going to do the same thing.' Maybe that's fine and fun for you, but I really want to be like, we have four Amons in this group and every single one of them has a different build." Considering that Borderlands 4 has around 30 billion (yes, billion) different guns to play with thanks to its many different weapon parts, yeah, this idea tracks across the board. It definitely sounds like fans are going to be busy next month when Gearbox's next game finally releases. Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford says Wolfenstein 3D and Diablo influenced the OG Borderlands as the devs aimed to "blend the moment-to-moment fun of a shooter" with the satisfaction of progression. See more PS5 News Gearbox Software Xbox Series X Nintendo Switch 2 PlayStation Catherine Lewis Social Links Navigation Deputy News Editor I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Borderlands 4 dev says "the way we've done guns before is great," but Gearbox is still overhauling its weapons to offer even "more opportunity for surprise" As Borderlands 4 fans create a skill tree planner months before launch, creative director issues a reminder that "the game isn't done yet" and their builds are "subject to change" Borderlands 4 has the "biggest world" Gearbox has ever made, and it's as seamless as it can be thanks to the power of "technical bulls***" that allows for "less borders, more lands" Borderlands 4 will have a "very ambitious" endgame, but not everyone is happy about having less skill points as creative director argues "you lose build diversity" with too many Randy Pitchford says Borderlands 4 is intended to "bring new people in" to the series, and I can only hope it's better at that than the Borderlands movie and its $110 million loss Borderlands 4 is "turning out to be better" than Borderlands 3 "by every measurement we have, including subjective ones," Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford teases Latest in Borderlands Borderlands 4 laughs in the face of Borderlands 3's 1 billion guns as Gearbox says there's 30 billion this time, which the devs kept track of using a Matrix-style "wall" of weapons Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford says Wolfenstein 3D and Diablo influenced the OG Borderlands as the devs aimed to "blend the moment-to-moment fun of a shooter" with the satisfaction of progression Randy Pitchford and his "big personality" may have caused Gearbox some controversy with all that $80 Borderlands 4 banter, but his boss wouldn't have it any other way: "I still love him to death" Take Two boss says Borderlands 4 is $70 instead of $80 because "we want to put out the best entertainment on Earth and we want to deliver more value than what we charge for" The new Borderlands 4 Vault Hunter that I knew the least about suddenly looks like one of the most interesting characters, and I didn't expect him to remind me of the modern God of War games The new Borderlands 4 trailer feels like an extreme parody of the 2025 games industry: a (literal) bloodbath caused by board members killing cool ideas to save money Latest in News Metal Gear Solid's OG Snake voice actor finally told himself to "stop being a baby" and play The Phantom Pain after he was recast, and now thinks it has "my favorite gameplay of the series" Chainsaw Man movie unveils its killer ending song with sneak peek, as it confirms involvement of Kingdom Hearts legend Hikaru Utada Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies gives hilariously cryptic response when asked about the sci-fi show's future: "Behave!" 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