STACK #251 September 2025

GAMING FEATURE

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Pitchford tells us that co-op has been changed up in a way that should delight Borderlands fans. “In co-op, we can instantaneously fast travel to each other. We have homing beacons built into our characters. That feature was emergent just because we play the game all the time, and we needed that.”

fray – we wondered how Gearbox go about workshopping new classes and their abilities… “Oh, that's a fun process! It's kind of magical because we collect ideas from everywhere in the studio. And sometimes we'll just make lists and get a bunch of us in a room together, and they all go up on the whiteboard, and then we start talking and narrowing things down. “Sometimes the ideas really start from a gameplay concept. Sometimes it starts from a stylistic, or a look and feel design of a character type. And sometimes it starts from a feeling, like a relatable experience that a character that makes us feel this or a character that's had this kind of thing happen to them and that's why they're doing it. And then the look of them and their gameplay follows. “So, the ideas originate from lots of different places, and it takes a lot of energy for us to start with this wide open possibility of a million ideas and then narrow that down into what we're gonna commit to.”

The lootin’ and shootin’ superstar series is back this month with the release of Borderlands 4 .We sat down for a chat with Gearbox supremo Randy Pitchford to get the inside word on what to expect. Words Amy Flower

W hen you’re creating a new entry in a storied series such as Borderlands , there’s pressure, but, as Pitchford attests, that can also make you work harder. “I take my responsibility very seriously – but it is a joy. It doesn't feel like pressure. It feels like an honour and a privilege to be able to be the custodian of this franchise that I helped create with my team, and I'm just thrilled that people love it and that we get to keep doing it,” the Gearbox boss enthuses. “And it seems like every time we make one, we get a little better at it. So, I wanna keep going because we can keep making it better – and it's fun!”

push things a little farther with movement and just the kineticism of combat,” Pitchford tells us. “So, you can do things like double jump now. You can glide. You can dash. You even have a grappling hook. And all of this creates a larger set of dynamic options on the battlefield, which I think is really fun. And when you combine that with some of the evolutions with gear and loot, it's the most dynamic shooting and looting experience that we've ever had.” Events take place on the planet Kairos, which brings us a larger, more open-ended world than in previous Borderlands outings. “It's a big world. It's a seamless world. If you can see it, you can go there. Even if it's up in the sky, you can go there,” Pitchford tells us, with his trademark enthusiasm. “And one of the things that helps facilitate your ability to navigate this world is a new personal vehicle. We've created these hoverbike jetpack things that you can just digistruct into existence wherever you happen to be, ride them anywhere in the environment, and

Some found the humour in Borderlands 3 a bit over the top. Pitchford assures us that they’ve dialled it down in Borderlands 4 . “ Borderlands , as we like it best, is when it lives in between drama and comedy. And we think that the comedy is stronger if we're not machinegunning you with jokes as much. And some of what happened in Borderlands 3 wasn't so much because we intended that, it's just kind of the nature of how we built that game. “We give a lot of autonomy to all our creatives. So, we're all kind of doing what we wanna do, and a lot of people were stepping on each other, which is machinegunning jokes. And, in Borderlands 4 , that taught us that we need to be a little more deliberate and thoughtful in

then digistruct them away into your digital backpack whenever you're done with it. And it's fast, convenient, and super fun.” Four new Vault Hunters enter the

coordinating with each other; giving each other space when we wanna do the serious stuff and have an emotional moment. We have the space to do it

While Borderlands 4 is a new entry in an established series, that doesn’t mean that the team have rested on their laurels. “We've done a few things with Borderlands 4 - not to disrupt the formula, but we wanted to

without, you know, a bunch of chatter in our head the whole time making fart jokes.”

• Boarderlands 4 is out Sep 12

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62 SEPTEMBER 2025

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