Your favorite irreverent and insane looter shooter is back; Borderlands 4 is set to be released on September 23, 2025, on all the major platforms. Gearbox Software announced the release date with a complementary launch trailer. This launch trailer, however, revealed another feature of the game that you could’ve easily missed if you blink, and it just so happens to be relatively groundbreaking for Borderlands 4.
Some of the more eagle-eyed Borderlands fans were quick to notice a certain short sequence in the Borderlands 4 launch trailer where the in-game character can now swim. In all the previous Borderlands games, water is more or less inaccessible. Your character will usually just drown or get punted back to dry land upon contact with deep water. Borderlands 4, however, makes it so your character took swimming lessons.
Amidst the cacophony of the cel-shaded gunplay, there’s one short scene where the character falls into the water, only for the next scene to reveal that they’re swimming. It’s not clear whether this movement has a diving mechanic attached to it or is limited to the surface, but at least now, Borderlands 4 has fewer environmental limitations.
Some fans instantly thought up several more possibilities for Borderlands 4 because in the event that a diving mechanic is present, then that ought to open up the game for underwater content. It would be one heck of a way to spice up the usual gameplay loop in Borderlands. You might have to wait for the actual gameplay trailers to get a confirmation, of course.
Other Hints of New Gameplay Mechanics for Borderlands 4
In addition to the swimming feature, Borderlands 4 also seems to have added in some additional combat dynamics such as dual-wielding, double jumping, grappling hook for movement, and exo-suit abilities. Borderlands 4 seems to have taken some pages from the Doom reboot when it comes to faster combat movement this time around, which is always a welcome change.
Developer Gearbox Software even regards Borderlands 4 as the most ambitious Borderlands title to date, and they’ve already given a glimpse of their efforts to pursue that goal. This time around, Borderlands 4 will be set on a planet called Kairos.
It’s less about vault-hunting this time and more about fighting the Timekeeper, a ruthless dictator on the planet. While the plot is nothing to write home about, that really doesn’t matter much for most Borderlands fans, at least not more so than the loot and the guns.
