Latest news with #Gearbox
Newsweek
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
Fans Are Ripping Gearbox for Controversial 'Borderlands 4' Decision
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Entertainment gossip and news from Newsweek's network of contributors Gearbox Software has made a name for itself by releasing the ever-popular "Borderlands" series. The shoot-em-up RPG features zany boss fights, hilarious and over-the-top toilet humor, and a ridiculous amount of guns to choose from. The series began in 2009 when the first "Borderlands" was released. The series, which includes three mainline games, and a series of spinoffs, has sold over 77 million copies, according to Wikipedia. Simply put, the "Borderlands" series is a mainstay, and the fourth installment is set for release on Sept 12, 2025. It has been six years since "Borderlands 3" was released, and fans are eagerly awaiting "Borderlands 4." While the trailers and looks at the upcoming sequel have been filled with excitement, there is one controversial change that has warranted major responses from fans. According to IGN, "Borderlands 4" contains a setting that will allow players to quiet down the lovable and quite annoying Claptrap. Claptrap was introduced in the first game, and he follows around the main character, spewing out random anecdotes, jokes, and so much more. Claptrap has also become the de facto mascot of the series, leaving fans wondering why this setting even exists. Claptrap, the cutest robot buddy Claptrap, the cutest robot buddy Gearbox "Isn't the entire point of Claptrap to annoy the player as much as possible?" one fan wrote. "The Easter egg is the setting works in reverse and he only gets louder because he knows you tried to silence him 😂,": another replied. "I will NOT make Claptrap quieter....i LOVE CLAPTRAP😭," wrote. "Why would you want claptrap to be quiet? He's the main protagonist," another questioned. Though the idea for quieting Claptrap down might be to give the main character some peace and quiet, fans are rallying to question why Gearbox Software would make such a controversial setting. Granted, Claptrap can be quite burdensome throughout the series, but he also serves as the comic relief throughout the series. His presence is one of the most welcome, albeit he has to talk and prattle on every chance he gets. The "Borderlands" series got so popular that a movie adaptation was created. Sadly, the adaptation was not a massive hit and bombed at the box office. Deadline reported that the adaptation lost $80 million. Despite the box office bomb, the characters in the adaptation included the beloved Claptrap, who was voiced by fan-favorite actor Jack Black. Simply put, there has been a lot of effort made for the character Claptrap to remain his zany self, and it appears fans are not keen on "Borderlands 4" having a setting where you can shut off the robot. For more video games, head to Newsweek Video Games.
CNET
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CNET
Steam Summer Sale: Snag 4 Major Borderlands Games for Under $25 Before Borderlands 4
If you want to catch up on the Borderlands series before Borderlands 4 comes out on Sept. 12, you're not going to find a better opportunity than this. Every mainline Borderlands game is steeply discounted for Steam's Summer sale, with many of them in the single digits. You can currently get Borderlands GOTY Enhanced, Borderlands 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and Borderlands 3 for a grand total of $22. The first game represents about half of that cost, so if you've already played that one or want to skip, you can get the other three for just $12. Various DLC are also on sale if you want to add to the base games. This is an absolute steal. Borderlands 2 is one of my all-time favorite FPS games, and despite being more than a decade old, I'd argue it's worth about $20 just on its own. For me, it's the pinnacle (so far) of the series' hero designs and enemy encounters -- for my money, Zer0, Gunzerker and Gaige are three of the most fun vault hunters the series has ever made. And the True Vault Hunter Mode and Ultimate Vault Hunter Modes (the new game plus modes) really add a lot of replay value by ratcheting up the strategy through increased importance of matching your elemental weapons to the right enemy health type -- think type matchups in Pokemon, except with guns. What I particularly love about the Borderlands series is the customization it offers. The games give you at least four vault hunter classes to choose from, and those classes offer additional options via skill trees that allow you to adjust the way your vault hunter plays. For example, Zer0 has options for sniping, stealth or melee. Add in different gun manufacturers whose weapons all have a different feel, plus different categories of guns -- pistols, SMGs, sniper rifles, etc. -- and elemental weapon types on top of that, and you end up with a veritable treasure trove of ways to tune your vault hunter's gameplay. Also, you can throw grenades that explode money. I almost crashed Borderlands 3 because I was exploding so much money. Team up with a friend and just start blasting. 2K Games/Gearbox Software The original Borderlands established the formula and some of the regular elements like soldier and siren classes, vending machines for gear and health, plus some of the recurring characters like de facto mascot Moxxi. Borderlands 2 refined that formula and introduced an amazing villain who added more narrative depth. The Pre-Sequel shook things up by taking us to space and giving us laser weapons. Borderlands 3 took a step back in terms of narrative and characters, but added some nice mechanical polish, like being able to mantle up ledges or slide into barrels to send them flying into enemies. All four of those games will take you in the realm of 100 hours total to beat if you stick to the main quests, or closer to 200 hours if you're the type to get sidetracked occasionally. Pro tip: Talk, finagle or blackmail some friends into playing with you. The games are significantly more fun with other players. For the complete Borderlands experience, you can also tack on the D&D-inspired spinoff game Tiny Tina's Wonderlands for $12 and Tales from the Borderlands, an acclaimed narrative choices game, for $15. With Borderlands 4 coming out in just a few months, you're not going to get a better chance to start or add to your collection. CATCH A RIIIDE, vault hunters.
Geek Tyrant
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
CASTLEVANIA Producer Adi Shankar Acquires DUKE NUKEM Rights, Promises No-Nonsense Adaptation — GeekTyrant
After turning Castlevania into one of Netflix's most acclaimed animated series and landing a second season for his upcoming Devil May Cry adaptation, renegade producer Adi Shankar has now set his sights on another iconic piece of gaming history with Duke Nukem . In a recent interview with Esquire, Shankar casually dropped the news. 'I bought the rights to Duke Nukem . Not the gaming rights, but I bought it from Gearbox.' No big studio fanfare, no corporate announcement—just classic Shankar style. Of course, Duke Nukem has had a rough ride trying to leap into Hollywood. Several failed attempts have been made over the years, but Shankar thinks he knows why it never worked, and why it will now. 'Duke Nukem can't be made by a corporation because the moment a corporation makes Duke Nukem, it's no longer Duke Nukem. I don't intend on having anyone tell me what to do on this one.' That kind of creative independence is what's made Shankar's work stand out. He doesn't aim to sanitize or rebrand Duke. He wants to embrace the chaos of it: 'It's a middle finger to everybody. When Duke Nukem blew up, a bunch of people sat around trying to turn it into a brand, when it's just a middle finger.' A bombastic, politically incorrect anti-hero paired with a filmmaker who thrives on subverting expectations. With Shankar at the helm under his Bootleg Universe banner, it sounds like we'll be getting something that doesn't pull punches or cater to safe studio notes. His has a passion for pushing boundaries in adult animation. Beyond Castlevania and Devil May Cry , Shankar's fingerprints are on Netflix's The Guardians of Justice (Will Save You!) and Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix . What ties all of these projects together is a commitment to reclaiming American animation's wild side. 'I grew up on action-heavy Saturday cartoons. American Saturday morning cartoons were f—ing sick. I didn't even live in America and I watched them! 'They made me want to be here. But they were boxed in by broadcast standards, and I wondered what these stories would become if they weren't held back.' Now, he's answering that question himself, describing his creative mission as '[building] something new rooted in American action storytelling.' He adds: 'This genre needs a name, because it's not anime. It's something that lives between Saturday morning cartoons, prestige television, and R-rated cinema.' Whatever name that genre eventually earns, there's no doubt who's leading the charge. With Duke Nukem locked and loaded in his arsenal, Shankar's universe just got a little more unhinged, and I'm excited to see what he does with this. There was a Duke Nukem movie that was announced three years ago from Legendary Entertainment and the the Cobra Kai series team, Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, but I guess that's not happening anymore?
Forbes
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Borderlands 4' Is Now My Most-Anticipated Game Of The Year
Borderlands 4 The vibes are good around Borderlands 4. That may sound like a pretty vague statement, but I've been doing this long enough to hold my finger to the wind and know which way things are moving. And in the case of Borderlands 4, all signs point to a successful launch in September, even in the wake of many that may have become disinterested in the series after its last installment. I've always been a huge Borderlands fan, the genesis of the looter shooter genre that Destiny eventually took and ran with (granted, Borderlands originally took a lot from Diablo and the like). Borderlands has avoided being a live service, and that still seems true for 4. But it also has learned significant lessons from its last installment, Borderlands 3, which attracted a lot of criticism despite big sales and made fans concerned for the future of the franchise. Now? Those fears are mostly gone. Almost entirely gone, for me especially. I have more or less not seen anything bad released for the promotion for this game. Not trailers, not interviews and now not an elaborate dump of first-impression previews and active streams of the game from creators. I know marketing is obviously meant to make games look good, but Borderlands 4 looks very good. There are a number of ways the game looks to have improved itself, but I'm most excited about three of them in particular: The Tone, thank god, The Tone – Borderlands 2 started this in some capacity, but Borderlands 3 went way off the deep end when it came to pop culture references (all of which are now significantly dated) and 'edgy' humor like the main villains being livestreamers. Even if the game was fun, the story was…rough in multiple ways. Now? Just watch any of the trailers, especially this latest one, where the game will not forgo humor entirely, of course, but it's a lot more focused on actually menacing villains over Butt Stallions and the like. The writing everyone hated appears, at least, to have taken a hiatus, direct feedback producing clear results, something the game's writers have talked about explicitly. Mobility – For being a game entirely focused on guns, abilities and combat, Borderlands has never exactly been the best-feeling shooter on the market. It appears Borderlands 4 has realized that's a missing component of most combat powers outside of some specific class abilities and has changed with alterations like a grappling hook everyone has access to, and a Warlock-like hover drift moving from locations. This may not be the highest-profile thing discussed about the game, but I think it's going to be key once everyone gets their hands on gunplay. Borderlands 4 Open World – I don't know how many hours I've spent looking at loading screens between the 20+ zones of a given Borderlands game, but that seems to be getting majorly reduced or eliminated with the inclusion of an open world this time around. I know for a time, switching to an open world seemed like an Ubisoft-style gimmick, but I genuinely believe Borderlands 4 will benefit from this. Early previews have also suggested this is a 'dense' world that won't have just endless sprawling spaces, but rather lots of things to find and do across the entire map in large quantities. I'm excited. I can't think of anything else coming out in the latter half of the year that I am personally looking forward to more. While I was always going to be excited for a new Borderlands, the previews for 4 have just been so reassuring they got it right this time. I hope that's the case. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Geek Culture
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Culture
'Duke Nukem' Adaptation Set By 'Devil May Cry' & ‘Castlevania' Showrunner Adi Shanker
Legendary gaming icon Duke Nukem is back, just not in a way most are expecting, as Adi Shankar, showrunner of Netflix's Devil May Cry and Castlevania animated series, has acquired the screen rights to the classic shooter franchise for his next game-to-screen adaptation. Speaking to Esqurie, Shankar spoke on his future plans, which, apart from season two of Devil May Cry , included a Duke Nukem show. 'I'm being approached with different IPs and companies that want to work with me,' he explained, 'I bought the rights to Duke Nukem. Not the gaming rights, but I bought it from Gearbox.' Duke Nukem 3D (1996) Even though the project is still in its infancy, Shankar already has plans for his take on the iconic '90s video game franchise. 'It's a middle finger to everybody,' he described when asked about his vision for the show, 'When Duke Nukem blew up, a bunch of people sat around trying to turn it into a brand, when it's just a middle finger. Duke Nukem can't be made by a corporation, because the moment a corporation makes Duke Nukem , it's no longer Duke Nukem . I don't intend on having anyone tell me what to do on this one.' From his comments alone, it seems like his adaptation will be as unapologetic and no-holds-barred as its gaming source material, which was made famous by its tongue-in-cheek nature, violence and self-aware immaturity. Duke Nukem Forever (2011) Duke Nukem entered the video game scene in 1991 as a series of 2D platformers created by Apogee Software Ltd. (now 3D Realms). The franchise would rise to fame in 1996 with Duke Nukem 3D , which transformed it into the FPS icon many know today. The series would go on to receive numerous sequels and spin-offs over 15 years, culminating in 2011's infamous Duke Nukem Forever , which was heavily criticised by critics and fans alike, effectively killing the series… until now, that is. Still, it's unclear what form the project will eventually take, be it an animated series like his previous works, a live-action TV show, or a movie. It's also unknown how his acquisition of the franchise's screen rights will affect Legendary Entertainment's Duke Nukem movie by Cobra Kai creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise 'duds' like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3 . He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying. Adi Shankar Devil May Cry adaptation duke nukem
