Borderlands 3 is supposed to be a top hit according to developer Gearbox, overshadowing all other games from the studio. This is supposed to be made possible by the failed shooter Battleborn.
What was Battleborn anyway? In May 2016, Battleborn launched, a mix of a hero shooter and a MOBA. Unfortunately, Gearbox’s colorful and quirky game did not achieve great success, partly because Blizzard released Overwatch shortly thereafter. That was better received by genre fans and support for Battleborn was finally discontinued at the end of 2017.
However, the infamous end of Battleborn is not entirely bad for Gearbox. Rather, this almost dead game has significantly contributed to making Borderlands 3 a potential great success.
Battleborn had to happen for Borderlands to succeed
What does Battleborn have to do with Borderlands? In an interview with Art Director Scott Kester published on Metro GameCentral, among other things, the necessity of Battleborn for the optimal development of Borderlands 3 was discussed:
“Okay, we did [Borderlands] 1 and we did [Part] 2 fairly quickly afterward. I was involved in both games and we were tired. And we said: “Should we make another [part]?” And we didn’t want to, we needed a break. Because if we hadn’t taken a break, I think we wouldn’t have made something as good [as Borderlands 3].
Thanks to [Publisher] 2K, we had the opportunity to say: “Hey, we want to try this Battleborn thing, we just want to reset our palette somehow, we’re going to try this thing.”
[…] Battleborn made us rethink a few things a little differently. I’ve been working on Borderlands 3 for over four years, it’s been in development for some time. The second I finished Battleborn, I essentially started working on Borderlands.”
Thus, Battleborn was a kind of creative break for the Gearbox team, during which they could try out different concepts, ideas, and approaches. This was important to clear their heads after years of full-on Borderlands development and to approach Borderlands 3 truly engaged and with the necessary calmness.
“For us, it wasn’t about: ‘Let’s rush it out, let’s push it!’ It was more like: ‘Let’s do the right thing. Let’s hit the target and take our time.'”
Borderlands 3 will receive “juicy DLCs” and plenty of endgame content
Borderlands 3 is expected to be extensive: According to Gearbox, Borderlands 3 will be a game packed with content. They aim to keep the game attractive even during second or third playthroughs, notably with a challenging Mayhem mode that will bring drastic changes to the gameplay.
Or by getting certain Guardian Ranks only after completing the game and thus gaining new skills that were previously unavailable.
Furthermore, the planned DLCs are expected to be just as “juicy” as the expansions from previous Borderlands games. So they have prepared ample content to ensure that Borderlands 3 remains relevant and exciting long-term after launch.
And this energy and creativity, according to Kester, is significantly due to the “Battleborn break”.
