Borderlands 3 is a 2019 action role-playing first-person shooter video game developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K. It is a sequel to 2012's Borderlands 2, and the fourth entry in the main Borderlands series. Borderlands 3 was released on 13 September 2019 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One, and released for macOS on 30 October 2019. A Stadia port was released on 17 December 2019. Versions for the Xbox Series X and Series S and PlayStation 5 including free upgrades for users on the prior console versions were released on 10 and 12 November 2020, respectively. A Nintendo Switch version was released on 6 October 2023.
Players complete quests and side missions, in single-player or multiplayer, as one of four classes. When killed, enemies may drop weapons and gear which can be equipped. New abilities are unlocked as the player gains experience. The plot is centered on four new Vault Hunters recruited by the Crimson Raiders of Pandora to stop twins Troy and Tyreen Calypso and their insane cult followers from harnessing the power of the alien Vaults spread across the galaxy.
Upon release, Borderlands 3 received generally favorable reviews with praise directed to its gameplay, though some criticized the lack of innovation, technical issues, and writing. The initial sales of the game were the highest of the Borderlands series: more than five million copies were sold in five days. A sequel, Borderlands 4, was released on September 12, 2025.
1. Borderlands 3 is a first-person loot shooter. Players, either playing alone or in parties of up to four people, make a character from one of the four classes available, and take on various missions given out by non-playable characters (NPCs) and at bounty boards to gain experience, in-game monetary rewards, and reward items. Players can also gain these items by defeating enemies throughout the game. As the player gains level, they gain skill points to allocate across a skill tree. The game introduces four new playable characters: Amara, a "Siren" who summons ethereal fists; Moze, a young "Gunner" who rides the mecha Iron Bear; Zane, an "Operative" with a variety of gadgets; and FL4K, a robot "Beastmaster" who summons creatures to aid in fights. Unlike previous Borderlands games, where each character had only one unique skill that operates on a cooldown, each character in the new game can unlock three unique skills, though only one (or in Zane's case, two) can be equipped at a time, greatly expanding the number of potential character builds a player can make.
2. Borderlands 3 shares the same core loop with previous games around taking on missions, defeating enemies, and obtaining loot from fallen foes or special chests, most often in the form of procedurally generated weapons to vary in damage, range, ammo capacity, and other special perks, giving the game "over one billion guns". Perks can include elemental effects, such as damaging the foes with fire, ice, or electricity, or may possess alternative firing behavior, among other visual differences. In Borderlands 2, some weapons had "slag" elemental, which debuffed the enemy for a short period and made them extremely vulnerable to a subsequent elemental attack from a different element. Slag weapons have been replaced with radiation; there is a debuff, but unlike slag which gives a damage increase to the player, radiation will damage enemies over time on its own and can potentially spread to other enemies through explosions on enemy death. The in-game manufacturer of the guns also plays a larger role in the type of perks a weapon can have. Tediore guns can be thrown when empty and create additional effects, Atlas have tracking bullets to hunt down enemies in cover, and Hyperion can have shields that absorb damage and use that for other purposes such as healing as well as having a reverse recoil mechanic. Other randomly-generated items include class modifiers, grenade modifiers, shield kits and relics. When playing with others, Borderlands 3's loot can be generated on a per-server basis, meaning that players must split the loot, but new to the series, players can also have loot generated on a per-player basis so that each player gains the same loot, scaled for their character level. This option also exists for the enemies seen in-game; by default enemies only scale with the player-character's level that is operating the server, but when enabled, each player sees enemies that match their individual levels.
3. Besides character skills and weapons, player-characters have new combat maneuvers and abilities, such as crouch-sliding influenced by the mechanic in Titanfall and Apex Legends, and wall-mounting to climb up over short heights. Players and their enemies can take cover behind short barriers which can be destroyed after continued weapon onslaught.
4. While the game starts on the planet Pandora, the player early on gains access to a spacecraft, Sanctuary III, which serves as a central hub between missions, and is used to set destinations for new planets where possible Vaults have been identified. While aboard Sanctuary III, players can manage their inventory, recover guns they had left on the field, redo their skill tree, purchase new guns and upgrades, and take on optional missions. Borderlands 3 has integration with Twitch streams; viewers can explore the streamer's inventory and skill tree, and special chests in game will offer the opportunity for viewers to receive the same gun/item that the stream finds via way of a Shift Code they can enter into their own game, scaled appropriately for their character's level.
5. Gearbox creative director Paul Sage estimated that players will spend about 35 hours through the main quest line along with some side missions. True Vault Hunter Mode, a type of New Game Plus, allows players to replay the campaign after finishing it with their leveled-up character, fighting more difficult enemies for a chance of better loot. The Badass Rank system from Borderlands 2 is replaced with a Guardian Rank system, which, by finishing smaller challenges throughout the game, allows players to gain buffs that persist across all their characters. Borderlands 3 will include new post-game challenges. "Circles of Slaughter" found on various planets have players attempt to fight through difficult waves of enemies for higher quality of loot. While downed players can be revived by teammates, if all player-characters die, the match is over and any potential rewards are lost. "Proving Grounds" are a type of raid that must be first discovered by finding hidden markings across the game's worlds. Once discovered, players attempt to defeat all enemies across three areas within 30 minutes to complete the challenge and earn their rewards. A further "Mayhem Mode" provides several bonuses to the player (including increased experience, damage, and rare item drops), while also increasing enemy health and randomizing several of the game's campaign elements to further increase the challenge to the player.
As part of the Borderlands series, Borderlands 3 is centered on the planet Pandora, which has been long-rumored to contain Vaults holding vast amounts of treasure and technology, left behind by a mysterious alien civilization known as the Eridians. In decades prior, several corporations have laid siege to Pandora to try to find the Vaults, but the constant conflict and bloodshed has left the planet and its population ravaged and crazed. However, there are still those independently searching for the Vaults, known as Vault Hunters (the player characters).
Borderlands 3 takes place seven years after the events of Borderlands 2 and Tales from the Borderlands. In Borderlands 2, it was discovered that numerous other Vaults exist on other planets in the galaxy. In the power vacuum left by the defeat of Handsome Jack, twin siblings Troy and Tyreen Calypso form the Children of the Vault (COV), a violent cult of personality formed from the remnants of the planet's many bandit factions, to gain possession of the other Vaults, specifically one called the "Great Vault". Lilith, a member of a race of women with alien powers called "Sirens" and current leader of the Crimson Raiders, a resistance force created to protect Pandora, recruits new Vault Hunters to help stop the Calypsos.
Several characters from past Borderlands games make a return. Previously playable Vault Hunters Lilith, Claptrap, Zer0, Maya, Brick, and Mordecai appear as NPCs. Aurelia, Sir Hammerlock's sister and one of the playable Vault Hunters in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, also appears as a boss. Returning NPCs include gun salesman Marcus Kincaid, explosives expert Tiny Tina (now going by just Tina), entrepreneur Miss Mad Moxxi and her mechanic daughter Ellie, cyborg hunter Sir Alistair Hammerlock, archaeologist Patricia Tannis, weapons manufacturer Mr. Torgue, and isolating Eridium trader Crazy Earl. Rhys Strongfork, one of the two playable protagonists in Tales from the Borderlands, and his best friend Vaughn also appear. Playable Vault Hunters from previous titles, including Timothy Lawrence from The Pre-Sequel and Gaige, Krieg, Axton, and Salvador from Borderlands 2, are featured as NPCs in the game's DLC.
Answering a recruiting call from the Crimson Raiders, a team of Vault Hunters (Amara, Moze, Zane, and FL4K) arrive on Pandora and meet the Crimson Raiders leader Lilith, who orders them to recover a lost Vault map, which the Children of the Vault (COV) have recently obtained. The Vault Hunters find the map, which directs them to the city-planet of Promethea, the location of the first discovered Vault and the Atlas corporation's headquarters. However, before they can depart, they are ambushed by the Calypso Twins, Tyreen and Troy, who reveal they are both Sirens from being conjoined at birth and that Troy needs Tyreen's powers to survive. Tyreen steals Lilith's powers with her life-draining abilities, then takes the map and leaves for Promethea with Troy.
The Vault Hunters and Crimson Raiders take the Sanctuary III ship to Promethea. On arrival, they find the planet under attack by the Maliwan corporation and COV forces, as Maliwan's CEO, Katagawa Jr., has joined forces with the Calypso Twins on a hostile takeover attempt on Atlas, now owned by Rhys. The Vault Hunters help Rhys stall the attack, after which he directs them to the planet Athenas where the Promethean Vault Key is kept. On Athenas, the Vault Hunters help Maya and her apprentice Ava recover the Key, learning it is only one-third of the artifact. Maya and Ava join the Crimson Raiders. The Vault Hunters return to Promethea, disable Maliwan's orbital laser cannon powered by the second part of the Key, and kill Katawaga Jr. Rhys gives them the last part of the Key and the Vault's location. Inside it, the Vault Hunters defeat the Rampager, an alien beast held within it. The Calypso Twins arrive, and Tyreen absorbs the Rampager's power, revealing their plan to absorb the power of the Vault monsters on their way to the Great Vault. Ava attempts to fight them but is overpowered. Maya intervenes to save her, but Troy kills her by draining her life force and powers.
The Vault Hunters and Crimson Raiders head to the next Vault on the swamp planet of Eden-6, owned by the Jakobs family, where the COV are also invading. Wainwright Jakobs, heir to the Jakobs corporation, agrees to help the Vault Hunters obtain the Eden Vault Key if they rescue his lover Alastair Hammerlock. The Vault Hunters find Hammerlock, who reveals he was betrayed by his sister Aurelia, who has sided with the Calypso Twins and seized the Jakobs corporation in exchange for handing them the Vault Key. The Vault Hunters gather the three pieces of the Eden-6 Vault Key and kill Aurelia. They open the Vault and defeat its monster, the Graveward. Patricia Tannis then drains the Graveward's energy before Tyreen can absorb it. Enraged, the Calypsos kidnap Tannis and take her back to Pandora to publicly execute her.
The Vault Hunters and Crimson Raiders return to Pandora to rescue Tannis. During the rescue, Tannis reveals that she also has Siren powers inherited from Angel after her death, a fact both she and Lilith kept a secret. Tannis warns that the Calypso Twins are preparing to open the Great Vault and drain the energy of the monster within it. The Vault Hunters assault the COV's main headquarters, but are too late to prevent Troy from activating the Vault's Key, which is the entire moon of Elpis. The Vault Hunters fight and kill Troy, resulting in Ava inheriting the Siren powers he had stolen from Maya. However, the Great Vault starts opening and Tyreen absorbs Troy's energy before escaping. The Vault Hunters are contacted by Typhon DeLeon, the first Vault Hunter, who warns them that the Great Vault contains an interdimensional monster called the Destroyer, which can consume the entire universe. He summons the Vault Hunters to the lost Eridian homeworld, Nekrotafeyo.
At Nekrotafeyo, Typhon explains that the Great Vault isn't simply located on Pandora, but is actually the entire planet itself. The Eridians created it to act as a prison and sacrificed their entire civilization to capture the Destroyer, but left behind the machine they used in case the Destroyer escaped. As they gather the four Vault Keys needed to power the device, Tyreen reveals that Typhon is her and Troy's father. Typhon admits that he had tried to keep the twins with him on Nekrotafeyo to protect them, but they saw it as a prison, becoming bitter and power-hungry. Tyreen disables the machine before it can be used and mortally wounds Typhon before fleeing to Pandora.
The Vault Hunters reach Tyreen just as she merges with the Destroyer. They defeat her, and Lilith regains her Siren powers. However, Elpis still threatens to destroy Pandora as it continues to open the Great Vault. Lilith sacrifices herself to shut down Elpis, leaving a flaming Firehawk sign branded on the moon. During the credits, scenes depict the Vault Hunters, the Crimson Raiders, and their allies honoring and memorializing Lilith and everyone looking at the Firehawk sigil on Elpis.