Gearbox's "Borderlands" has been a hit ever since the original came out in 2009, and fans can now rest easy knowing that "Borderlands 3" is officially a thing and will be the next thing on Gearbox's plate once its done with any ongoing projects.
The news came straight from the developers' mouth during its panel at PAX East when it confirmed that "Borderlands 3" will be the next game that the company will work on once it wraps up production on the upcoming multiplayer shooter "Battleborn" and its DLC.
"It's no secret, obviously there's going to be another Borderlands," Gearbox CEO and president Randy Pitchford said.
It was also confirmed that Scott Kester, art director for "Battleborn" and "Borderlands 2," will also be the art director for "Borderlands 3." Returning to the series will also be Gearbox chief creative champion Mikey Neumann, who wrote Gearbox's mainline "Brothers in Arms" games, as well as the original "Borderlands."
While fans have referred to the expected sequel as "Borderlands 3," Pitchford noted that this might not actually be it's title, saying that it could actually be called "Borderlands 4" as a possible nod to "Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel."
"We don't even know if we're going to call it that. We could call it Borderlands 4 for all we know," he added.
Regardless of what the game is called, Neumann jokingly confirmed that "everyone dies horribly."
On a possibly more serious note, he revealed that he brainstormed a character named Scooper, who may or not be included in the final game. Scooper, who is the son of Scooter, the beloved mechanic from "Borderlands 1 & 2," was created as a bid to appease Pitchford's wife, who was reportedly devastated after learning Scooter's fate in "Tales from the Borderlands."
"I did this whole Scooter thing, then I pitch-shifted it up like seven semitones so it sounds like a chipmunk and it was the funniest thing I'd ever heard," Neumann said.
"There's already a lot of Borderlands easter eggs in Battleborn," Pitchford said. "But they're all from previous Borderlands games. So what if we put easter eggs for future stuff in the DLC?"
"We could do that," Battleborn creative director Randy Varnell replied.
As such, fans are encouraged to look closely at the DLC once it arrives.
There's still no word on when "Borderlands 3" is slated to arrive, but we do have an approximate time table for "Battleborn." The game will be released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on May 3. Pre-purchase orders are available for a digital deluxe and season pass costing $75, which will include five planned DLC add-ons post-launch, each with a PvE story operation, exclusive skins and new taunts.
In related news, Gearbox has revealed that "Battleborn" characters will be available as characters in "Rockband 4." A picture of how that looks can be seen below:
