Borderlands 4 Feels Like the First Step Toward a Massive Genre Shift

Since its beginnings, the Borderlands series has been defined as a solo or cooperative loot-driven adventure, with finality in mind despite an increasing number of weapons for players to collect and playstyle variations across each installment. Over time, more RPG elements have crept further into the mix, and with Borderlands 4, the scale is leaning more toward the role-playing genre than ever. The game still revolves around action-first combat, but the integration of deeper role-playing mechanics makes it feel like the series is finally stepping toward its biggest genre shift yet.

In many ways, Borderlands 4 is the RPG its predecessors only hinted at. Vault Hunters now offer unprecedented control over playstyle, the Licensed Part system pushes weapon variety to near-limitless personalization, and Kairos provides a seamless world that supports more approaches to a playthrough and progression than ever before. All of these elements only strengthen the case that Borderlands has never felt closer to MMO territory than with Borderlands 4, especially with its cooperative design tying all the pieces together.

Borderlands 4’s MMO DNA Is Hard to Miss

A World Built for More Than Four Players

While Borderlands 4‘s Vault Hunters have proven to be the stars of the show, the new planet Kairos is hard to ignore as the stage on which the game’s playable characters perform. Not only is Borderlands bigger in square mileage than it has ever been, but Kairos’ seamless design gives Borderlands 4 a feeling that no game before it has been able to achieve. In fact, it’s hard to explore Kairos without it feeling like an MMO at times, simply because it feels like even a four-player co-op team is not big enough to justify its size.

It’s not just the size, though, as there are plenty of single-player games that are much larger — like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, for instance. It’s the size of Kairos paired with the themes of the overarching narrative, which sees the rise of a resistance in defiance of the tyrannical Timekeeper’s order. That alone makes Borderlands 4 feel like a world that was destined to have more than four players in one instance at a time, with the idea being a much larger population of players working together to see the downfall of the planet’s domineering ruler.

Systems That Already Blur the Line

It could be that Borderlands 4 feels more like Destiny than any entry before it, and with Destiny being an MMO, it only seems natural that Borderlands would move in that direction. Similar systems are already in place, like side quests that don’t feel optional, a multitude of gear to collect, countless world bosses to defeat, dozens of different approaches to character classes, and even the Ordnance system, which is now tied to a cooldown rather than a limited number of consumables. The only thing that is really missing is the “massively” part of the Massively Multiplayer Online genre, as it even already has the multiplayer and online aspects down.

There’s no telling whether Borderlands will eventually embrace the MMO genre. It would definitely cause quite a stir in the gaming community if it did, given the reputation of live-service games these days. And with how controversial Borderlands 4 already was for monetary reasons, it’s difficult to say that a Borderlands MMO would be a good idea even from a PR standpoint. However, with so many of the pieces already in place, it might actually feel like a waste not to get a Borderlands MMO at some point, especially considering the potential longevity fans would get from it if it were successful. Even if it never does open its arms to the genre, however, Borderlands 4 is proof enough that the series can innovate without losing itself in the process.

Released

September 12, 2025

ESRB

Rating Pending