Borderlands 3 Is Official, No Release Date Announced

Good news! You no longer have to live in a world where Borderlands 3 doesn't exist. Gearbox Software officially announced the title at the tail end of its PAX East presentation today, telling series die-hards the tiniest bit of what they've been wanting to know about the next adventure in the Borderlands universe.

There's no release date for it yet.

Now, exhale. Wow, that presentation was one of the most bizarre things we've ever seen.

A stream before the event started showed just how attached people are to the Borderlands series, as it showcased everything from community cosplayers to fan art to a tweet asking one simple question: "Where is Borderlands 3?" And toward the beginning of the show, Gearbox's Randy Pitchford even gave a Tiny Tina cosplayer a shout, having her come to the stage to show off her design. It all seemed really touching. Had the name Borderlands 3 been uttered right then and there, the house would've exploded.

But it didn't.

Pitchford instead picked through a trailer of game assets, describing them in very fine detail, talking about why certain assets were included and pointing at messages hidden in various pieces of art. It was probably longer than it should've been. The Gearbox crew probably could've gotten to the point a little more quickly. Okay. A lot more quickly.

But they didn't.

Pitchford and creative director Paul Sage disappeared, leaving others to talk about everything else Gearbox is up to, which is certainly not why most people showed up to the event. It felt more like filler than anything substantial. At some points, you could make out the distinct claps of three or four people who were excited for Bulletstorm on Switch. They were vastly outnumbered.

And then Pitchford was back! He announced a Borderlands tabletop game called Tiny Tina's Robot Tea Party. He shelled them out as gifts to fans with upcoming birthdays. He pulled out the instructions. He read the instructions. He shuffled through the card deck. He did an elaborate, ten-minute long card trick. Could this have been any more drawn out?

Yes.

More Gearboxers came on stage. In a bit of good news, Borderlands 2 VR is getting DLC. We would've loved to see it, but alas, technical difficulties. The video froze. The next videos, which showed off updated versions of Borderlands and Borderlands: The Handsome Collection, ran at approximately 10 frames per second. It was not great. Fortunately, everyone in the crowd got free copies of the games. This had to be it, right?

Finally, the grand moment had arrived. All of that extraneous nonsense, just to hear the magic name. Just to know it was coming. And when it did — video issues still very much present — the crowd absolutely ate it up.

There wasn't a whole lot to see. It was more Borderlands. At that point, though, it probably prevented a riot from breaking out.

Pitchford ran the video one more time once things were working properly. And then... that was it. Goodbye! No release date.

Series veterans have been clamoring for Borderlands 3 ever since Pitchford made mention of a new Borderlands in early 2015. Looking at where we are now — four years after Pitchford made that announcement — it's been a long wait. And it'll be an even more excruciating one in the months ahead, as fans anxiously await any news about Borderlands 3's release date.

And as they struggle to understand what in the heck they just watched.