A new rumor making the rounds claims that Bungie is in talks to make a live-service remake of the first Borderlands game, and Destiny 2 fans are bound to get a little bit of deja vu from hearing this. These Borderlands remake rumors should be taken with a huge grain of salt, but if true, it would be repeating the mistakes that Bungie made when it comes to Destiny 2‘s content. Bungie has found itself in a rough situation recently, and it’s unlikely that this rumored Borderlands project would be the successful Hail Mary that the company is searching for.
Just as it’s been a difficult time to be a Destiny 2 fan, longtime lovers of the Borderlands franchise have had a rough go of it, too. Borderlands 4 failed to meet a lot of fans’ expectations, and the rough live-action Borderlands movie adaptation that hit theaters the year before was hailed as one of the worst films of 2024. Bungie, on the other hand, recently faced a significant round of layoffs after ending Destiny 2 updates and continues to struggle to bump up Marathon‘s player count.
Bungie’s Rumored Borderlands Remake Is Eyebrow-Raising
The rumor comes from Destiny content creator Trance, and it’s important to note that the source is “a colleague who works in Business Development at 2K.” So, the source could easily be someone purposefully making up something controversial to simply rock the boat and get people talking. Even though rumors can always be fake, they can also just as easily turn out to be true, though. A Borderlands game inspired by Destiny 2 would be a surprising turn for Bungie, and that isn’t even the wildest detail about these rumors.
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Features Claimed to Be in Consideration for the Rumored Borderlands-Meets-Destiny 2 Game
- Seasonal paid content will be the game’s lifeblood.
- The game’s original Vault Hunters wouldn’t be the playable characters. Instead, players would have “semi-customizable” characters to choose from.
- The project’s map is rumored to take inspiration from Borderlands 4‘s open-world design.
A live-service looter shooter with Destiny 2-style seasonal paid content that lacks the original Borderlands Vault Hunters doesn’t sound like a remake at all, frankly. It just sounds like a spin-off. There is a chance that this rumor’s source could have misspoke by calling it a remake. Such a big project allegedly has a lot of companies negotiating with one another to try and make this game happen. In addition to Bungie, Gearbox, Sony, and 2K are all in “very early discussions” about bringing this plan to life.
The rumor also claims that Gearbox might be considering a Borderlands 2 remake that could potentially be a “timed PlayStation 6 exclusive.” Since the Borderlands series has never been exclusive to any specific console, this would be another pretty controversial move.
So, there is always the chance that negotiations could fall through. Even though this rumor sounds a little outlandish, there is Sony’s live-service push to keep in mind. The company has been adamant about making its live-service plans work, so it wouldn’t be too out of left field if such a game was being considered. So far, Helldivers 2 and Marathon have been the only Sony live-service projects to be a success, and the latter’s future is still uncertain. Concord was shut down after a mere two weeks, and now-canceled games like The Last of Us Online, a multiplayer God of War spin-off, and Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man: The Great Web never made it across the finish line.
Destiny 2’s Approach to Seasonal Content Marked Its Downfall, and This Rumored Borderlands Game Could Quickly Meet the Same Fate
Destiny 2 ending brought years of fond gaming memories to a close, but the game had been struggling to keep players engaged for a while. Bungie’s approach to Destiny 2‘s seasonal content was seen by many as a repetitive slog that turned the game into more of a grind than something actually engaging. Also, only offering pieces of the story through tiny breadcrumbs made it hard to keep up with the overall lore, which made starting as a new player even more daunting. Vaulting important content, power-capping, and predictable content drops simply made for a frustrating and boring experience.
If Bungie is using Destiny 2‘s seasonal content approach as a blueprint for a new Borderlands game, then the same thing is bound to happen with this rumored project. Sure, the seasonal content will probably feel exciting at first, but Bungie has already shown with Destiny 2 that this method can only be engaging for so long. The game will eventually start to feel like more of a chore than something truly worth spending time with long term.
If Sony and Bungie Insist on Making a Destiny 2-Style Game, Then the Focus Should Be on Destiny 3
A Destiny-style Borderlands game is more than likely going to attract a decent number of players at first, but it’s not exactly a project that gamers are actively asking for. Gaming’s live-service era is coming to an end, but Sony insisting on holding tight to the genre when its legacy is rooted in some of the best single-player narrative-driven games the industry has seen is deeply frustrating.
Also, with the Destiny 2 community coming together to host server slams and create online petitions, the news that Bungie could be considering a new live-service project that is similar to the now defunct game is bound to ignite even more anger. Bungie making Destiny 3 its next game could have revitalized the franchise after Destiny 2 was left stuck in its monotonous live-service cycle, but it doesn’t look like that will ever happen.
Two live-service games that Sony has in the pipeline next are Horizon Hunters Gathering and Fairgame$. Neither project has a release date set in stone yet.
Only time will tell if these Bungie Borderlands remake rumors are true. There’s no telling what Bungie’s next game is after Marathon, but turning the first Borderlands game into a live-service looter shooter would ignite a lot of passionate discussion. Bungie needs to do something big in order to smooth over its relationship with its longtime fan base, and a live-service Borderlands game just doesn’t sound like it would do the trick.
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October 20, 2009
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