Borderlands 3 Teased at GDC 2017

Gearbox Software boss Randy Pitchford had a surprise in store when he took the stage at GDC during Epic's Unreal Engine panel.

Pitchford showed off a demo that was built by Gearbox within Unreal Engine 4 and said that the technology used will "power the next Borderlands game." Pitchford constantly stated that what he was showing was not a video game, but a "technology demonstration". That didn't stop observers to notice that the demo's graphics and artwork featured Borderlands unique style and looked very much like what one would expect from a next-gen Borderlands title.

Pitchford said Gearbox hopes to use Unreal Engine 4 to make the distinctive look of Borderlands appear more natural but also more complex. It seems that the presentation got a little heavy with industry jargon, with Pitchford talking about "variable line weights" and additional geek-speak, but the main highlight here is that the tech demo looked really promising.

"It gives you a sense of what a future game from Gearbox might look like," said Pitchford. "I want to remind everyone, this isn't a video game, this is a technology demonstration of some ongoing research and development at Gearbox Software. Some or all of the technologies that I showed off here may be utilized for future Gearbox Software video games."

It isn't the first time for Pitchford to tease fans about Borderlands 3. Last spring, the Gearbox president and CEO confirmed the game's development during a panel at PAX east 2016, after noting that Borderlands 2 is the best-selling 2K game ever. At the time, Pitchford said that the game's title is still up in the air and might not even be called Borderlands 3. It was also revealed that Borderlands 2 art director Scott Kester will return as art director for Borderlands 3 and that the game's story will be penned by Gearbox creative chief Mikey Neumann, who's responsible for writing the first game in the series.

There is no release date for Borderlands 3 but is presumably being developed for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.