Everything we know about Borderlands 3

It's been seven years since we last saw a mainline entry in the Borderlands series, but now it's time to return to Pandora.

On September 13, Borderlands 3 is finally coming to bring us back to run-and-gun heaven, and we can't wait to see what the future holds for this zany new adventure. We don't have all the details on the upcoming title just yet, but we know enough to be massively excited. Here's everything we know so far about Borderlands 3. 

Players are returning to Pandora later this year in September, as announced during the Gearbox panel at PAX East 2019, where the game was officially unveiled. Considered one of the worst-kept secrets in video games, we all knew it was coming, but the question was when. During the panel, the game's very first official trailer with gameplay was revealed, which essentially acted as a small slice of what we can expect when it finally hits. It's a smorgasbord of new and returning characters, a tease at planets beyond Pandora, and more. 

As showcased in the announcement trailer, the new Vault Hunters were shown off. These are the playable characters you can choose from when you journey into Pandora. They include Zane, Amara, Flak, and Moze, all of whom fill respective niches: Amara is the new Siren class, Flak is a robotic beast master, Moze is a soldier, and Zane is the Assassin. You can see a few brief looks at them in the game's introduction. 

Moze can summon mechs to do any dirty work necessary, Zane can jump into a mech and ride one, and Amara can summon ethereal arms to fight for her. Flak's robots are the ones you really need to watch out for, though — they look deadly. Along with the new Vault Hunters, we can also confirm the return of characters like the previous Vault Hunters Brick, Maya, Lilith, Mordecai, and Zer0, as well as a colorful cast that you'll no doubt recognize.

For instance, Tales from the Borderlands' Rhys is returning, as well as Tina (no longer tiny), Claptrap, Ellie, Marcus, and Sir Hammerlock as well. Randy Pitchford made it a point to note that Mad Moxxi's returning with an even bigger bar this time around, too. 

As far as the evildoers this time around, Handsome Jack won't be making an appearance. He's dead and buried, Pitchford reminded fans. It looks like the Calypso Twins are the ones you want to defeat this time around. But of course, there will be the usual suspects as well: psychos, mutants, monsters, and other varmints lurking around Pandora who want nothing more than to kill you for sport. 

You'll be tangling with all kinds of bad guys (and critters) across Pandora, the same setting from the previous games. This time, however, Gearbox has made it clear that there are other battlegrounds too: "Hostile deserts, war-torn cityscapes, deadly bayous, and more." There will be additional planets, but we don't currently have any information on what kind (or their names) — this will likely be announced at a later date. 

One detail we do know of, however, is that Borderlands 3 is poised to have an insane amount of guns — over "a billion," according to Gearbox. There's a wide variety of different types, too, even those that the developers say will "chase down enemies while hurling verbal insults." You'll collect a good portion of these guns while out in the world and during co-op play, and this time around both players get their own unique loot streams as well, so there's no need to fight over who gets what. 

That's about it as far as what we know about content. Of course, when the game drops in September, it will also include four different tiers of "special editions" that you can spend various bits of cash on. The standard version, which runs you $60, will give you a selection of cosmetics and guns, and the $80 version comes with an additional set of goodies. If you prefer to spend even more cash, there's a version of the game that comes packing physical rewards, character figures, and more. 

So, strap in and get ready for a return ticket to Pandora this September, and an official event coming at the end of April with more info coming down the pipeline. It's high time we resumed our positions as Vault Hunters, and we'll get back down to business again this September. Wub-wub, baby!