GearboxBorderlands has never been shy about flexing its loot game. The first title bragged about a bazillion guns. Borderlands 3 followed suit, but never gave a concrete number.
Borderlands 4, however, is not just flexing. It’s dunking on the competition with more guns than every Call of Duty game combined.
And it’s not a marketing stunt. It’s the natural result of procedural madness, art team obsession, and Gearbox’s refusal to settle for “a lot” when they can have “too much.”
Borderlands 4 will pack over 30 billion guns
In a (rather lengthy) deep dive with Epic Games, Art Director May casually dropped the number: over 30 billion guns. Yes, billion with a “B.”
The reasoning is pure Borderlands logic. Weapons come and go fast. You find one, burn through a few firefights, then toss it for something shinier. “Nothing sticks around unless it’s rare,” Armintor explained. Even purple loot gets pawned off.
Procedural generation fuels the chaos. You’ve got manufacturers like Daedalus, Jakobs, Torgue, Maliwan, and Tediore, each with a signature style. Then toss in pistols, rifles, shotguns, snipers, and SMGs, plus a buffet of attachments and firing modes.
What’s really cool about the upcoming installment is Manufacturer cross-pollination. A Daedalus underbarrel on a Maliwan shotgun will be possible.
Jimmy Barnett also designed a “wall of guns” in Unreal Engine. It’s basically a giant armory grid showing every part from every brand, so the team can make sure the look sells the function. Sleek shapes mean speed. Big and bulbous means boom.
Narrative plays a sneaky role too. “People get the vibe of Jakobs before they’ve met the CEO,” said Joyce, explaining how names and flavor text give each manufacturer personality.
The team also teased new toys, like the Rep Kit & Ordnance system, which adds cooldown-based heavy weapons for big, cinematic moments.
Borderlands 4 is set for a September 12 release date. With 30 billion guns, Gearbox is betting on the loudest, flashiest loot loop in shooter history.
