With Gearbox getting ready to release Borderlands 4 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2 on September 12, more details about the game are gradually being revealed. A voice actor has noted that the game might not feature one of the fan-favourite characters from the franchise – Tiny Tina. In an interview with Ginx TV (as caught by GamesRadar), Tiny Tina’s voice actor Ashly Burch spoke about not getting a call to reprise the role for Borderlands 4. “I haven’t heard anything,” said Burch when asked about the character in the upcoming title. Sadly, Burch doesn’t offer more details on the matter.
Tiny Tina was first introduced to fans of the Borderlands franchise with the second game, which featured her in a minor role. This role would later get expanded through the release of a DLC for Borderlands 2 – Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep. Ultimately, the popularity of the character would ensure that she would come back in later games, and she ultimately also got an entire title based on her – Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands.
It is worth noting that, considering the success of Tiny Tina’s Wonderland, Gearbox might intend to make the character more important to its overall business going forward with her own line-up of games. This would also mean that we would see less and less of her in Borderlands games as time went on. Burch’s statement and relative silence about her appearance in Borderlands 4 might also end up being a ruse to keep players from getting spoiled on the game before its release.
Borderlands 4 is shaping up to be one of the biggest releases for Gearbox overall, with the studio CEO, Randy Pitchford, describing it as having “by far the biggest universe that we’ve built.” He continued to say that the game’s world is “seamless,” pointing out that “there’s no load times.”
Pitchford also spoke during a recent GDC panel about the title not featuring a minimap. The decision was made, according to him, because the a minimap would simply get in the way of players exploring the world on their own. Rather, Gearbox wants players to wander around and occasionally pull up the full map of the game if they were to get lost.
“A lot of the things you do can be local space, but a lot of the things you do or want to do are out there, and a local space map is not a good way to navigate when you’re thinking about objectives and opportunities – several at the same time that might be miles away – and a compass really helps us do that,” said Pitchford.
“So we made a commitment, and we put all of that investment into this compass system, and you still have the big map,” he continued. “It’s one click away.”
Pitchford recent words also sparked some controversy surrounding the unannounced price tag for Borderlands 4. While he was quick to say that the game’s price wasn’t his decision to make, he also said that “real fans” would find a way to buy the game even if it were to cost $80. He quickly apologised for the statement after quite a bit of backlash, however.
