Complete History of the Borderlands Franchise | MojoPlays

This series defined Loot-athons! Welcome to MojoPlays, and this is the History of Borderlands! Development for the soon-to-be blockbuster franchise started in 2005 while Gearbox was still working on the “Brothers in Arms” franchise. Pitched internally as “‘Halo’ meets ‘Diablo’”, Gearbox CEO and co-founder Randy Pitchford wanted to create a game that combined RPG elements with first-person shooter gameplay. It was a genre-blend no studio had tried before, and it would go endure some awkward development and marketing unlike any other game. For starters, the project went through a drastic visual change roughly halfway into development. Originally, “Borderlands” was to follow suit with other open-world shooter games, looking gritty and realistic. However, there was some concern from internal reviewers that the game could be swept under the rug when compared to other titles, most notably “Fallout 3”. And so, Martel took a small team to tweak the game’s appearance before showing it to Pitchford. Both Pitchford and publisher 2K were blown away by the alteration and gave full approval. The oddities don’t end there for Gearbox’s new IP. Marketing the game would prove to be one of the biggest hassles for the studio. In almost a “No Man’s Sky” sort of way, “Borderlands” made some absurd promises given the time it was launching. Of course, features like randomly-generated “loot caves” and hiring NPCs to help on missions were axed. Although, the most ludicrous claim was that “Borderlands” would be filled with millions and millions of guns! One couldn’t be blamed for skepticism. How could a single game contain that many weapons? This feat could drive any studio to the brink of insanity, and the team knew this, but quickly came up with a brilliant solution. Gearbox implemented an AI system to auto-generate weapons and supplied it with a ruleset to follow. Not only did this work mechanically, but Gearbox thought of a clever way to make it work narratively, assigning specific traits to gun manufacturers within the universe. Question is “Would this and the change in art style be enough for ‘Borderlands’ to break the mold?” That query was answered with a hyperactive “YES” when the game launched in North America on October 20, 2009. Critics were impressed with the game’s open-world structure and unique approach to FPS and RPG games. While many reviews gave solid, positive scores, there were a few problems with the game; skill trees weren’t as varied as they could have been, and the narrative was lacking meat on its bones. “Borderlands” would go on to set a world record for Most Guns in a Video Game, adding up to over 17.75 million! With the foundation of their new IP built, Gearbox was faced with a critical decision for the sequel - do more of the same or get crazier than a Badass Burning Psycho? For “Borderlands 2”, Gearbox sought to take the criticism from its predecessor and improve upon their formula. Skill trees now offered diverse playstyles for players to choose from, giving the game a hearty amount of replay value. One could play the same class three times and get completely different mechanics each time, whether one wanted to play as the group support or focus on beefing up Action Skills. Missions would also be expanded upon, offering players more choices in rewards and narratives. While these improvements would certainly bring “Borderlands” to its full potential, Gearbox had bigger ambitions with its narrative. After being found by Claptrap, you learn that a sadistic man named Handsome Jack is seeking a Vault Key to awaken a powerful beast known as “The Warrior”. With a plot like that, Gearbox was clearly pouring a ton of effort into the lore and storytelling. “Borderlands 2” first launched in North America on September 18, 2012, and it was met with universal acclaim. Fans and critics alike fell in love with the game’s world, characters, and personality as well as the improvements made on skill trees. “Borderlands 2” ended up winning several awards for its characters and performances on top of multiple Game of the Year awards! Wish we could say the same for the mobile title that released alongside it, “Borderlands Legends”, which didn’t do so hot critically and was swiftly forgotten. Of course, there is such a thing as going TOO big. Gearbox could feel the burnout coming on and wanted to step away from the franchise while they went to work on a new IP (the ill-fated “Battleborn”). To keep “Borderlands” alive, they began handing the reins over to other studios while assisting with some of the development. The first would be 2K Australia, a studio based in Canberra and formerly known as Irrational Games Australia. As they began prototyping, 2K Australia quickly realized their setting after hearing their placeholder voice-over. Very seldom do we see Australians represented in games, and with Australia seen as a whole other world by some, the studio settled on putting the game on the moon. With a new mechanic using oxygen as a second health bar (in a way) and a narrative centered on Handsome Jack’s origins, could 2K Australia surpass expectations the same way “Borderlands 2” did? Unfortunately, not so. When “Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel” released in October 2014, it received solid praise for introducing new mechanics, weapons, and characters, but suffered from a shorter length, questionable level design, and the lack of personality in missions. Still, this wasn’t anything horrendous enough to kill the franchise. A year prior to “Pre-Sequel’s” release, Gearbox announced a partnership with Telltale Games to develop a new “Borderlands” experience with Telltale’s adventure game formula. The two studios had already collaborated for Telltale’s “Poker Night 2”, which featured Claptrap and Mad Moxxi. At the time, Telltale was garnering praise for its take on “The Walking Dead”, which made a comedy game seem out of place for the studio. Then-President Kevin Bruner reassured fans in an interview with PC Gamer, bringing up Telltale’s history with comedic properties such as “Sam & Max”. The humor may be there, but could Telltale find the zen of “Borderlands’s” humor and action? Sure enough, Telltale and Gearbox found another home-run in “Tales from the Borderlands”, an episodic adventure game praised for its writing, voice-acting, and character development. Released in November 2014, the game garnered several awards after its final episode launched in October 2015. “Tales from the Borderlands” became widely regarded as one of Telltale’s best games before the studio suddenly closed in September 2018. For the next five years after “Tales” and “Pre-Sequel”, the “Borderlands” franchise would go dark. As Gearbox put the finishing touches on its FPS shooter MOBA, “Battleborn”, “Borderlands” was supposed to get one final game from a 2K studio. “Borderlands Online” was to be a free-to-play FPS game developed by 2K China and exclusive to Asian markets. The first and last time Western audiences heard about the title was when the project was cancelled in November 2015. With the game still unfinished, 2K claimed it would fail to recoup costs at launch, deeming the project unprofitable and shutting down 2K China. A few months after that, Gearbox would go through an intense bump in the road with its newest IP, “Battleborn”. Launching around the same time as Activision Blizzard’s “Overwatch”, “Battleborn” did not garner a wide enough fanbase, and the game struggled to retain its audience as the months progressed. Despite this, “Borderlands 3” art director Scott Kester has said that “Battleborn” rejuvenated Gearbox into making a new installment. Unfortunately, that hasn’t kept the game from being shrouded in controversy with Gearbox’s CEO Randy Pitchford. “Borderlands 3” may be one of the most anticipated games of the year, but will it be able to escape the negative reputation of Gearbox’s CEO? Be sure to check out our review when the game launches September 13.