Gearbox says Borderlands 4 humor will be grounded within its world. 'We wanted to make sure it was situational and that it emerged naturally'

The Borderlands 4 teaser from last week didn't reveal much about Gearbox’s next big coop looter-shooter game. But at PAX West, today, Gearbox’s creative leads took to the stage to give us just a bit more insight into what we can expect in the next billions of guns looter-shooter.

The panel didn't reveal many details about Borderlands 4, but one thing that was clear is that Gearbox appears to be aware of the perception of Borderlands humor as untethered and omg so random pop culture chaff. The studio has said that it will focus on character-driven humor in Borderlands 4.

"With Borderlands 4 we want to give it back to the players," said narrative director Sam Winkler. "We want the player and vault hunters to be the central characters in our story. We want to make the world reactive, grounded. While we want to keep the humor that keeps people coming back to the franchise, we also want to make it situational and natural. While we're creating these characters, we always make sure that they are strong personalities and that they will react differently in different situations. We see the effects that this has."

Anthony Nicholson, senior product producer at Borderlands 4, said that "feeling as if you're pushing things forward and taking care of things instead of just being along for the ride" is one of Borderlands 4's main goals. I don't know if I felt like I had a lack in agency in previous Borderlands titles, but I'm curious about what this "bring back the player" philosophy means for the humor and storytelling in Borderlands 4.

The Gearbox PAX panel is available on Twitch. Borderlands 4 discussion starts about halfway through. Although it's not very detailed, the developers did show some concept art. You can see that below. Adam May, the art director, said that it's "the most diverse and beautiful game they've ever created."

Randy Pitchford wasn't feeling well, so this magic trick is not for you.

Gearbox has not yet announced a date for Borderlands 4, but they plan to release it in the next year. It will be the first Borderlands that is not only published by Take-Two & 2K Games but also owned by the mega-publisher who acquired Gearbox back in March.