Borderlands 4 co-op upgrades are exactly what the franchise needed

After 15 years of mayhem and loot, Borderlands is going harder than ever on what it does best—co-op chaos. Gearbox used its PAX East 2025 panel to show off a long list of new co-op improvements coming in Borderlands 4, and they’re more than just surface-level tweaks. This time, they're changing how you connect, play, and stay in the fight with friends.

Fast-travelling directly to your squad. Seamless drop-in/drop-out play. A new lobby system is designed to cut through all the mess of the older games. If you’ve ever felt that getting a co-op session going in Borderlands took more energy than blasting psychos, this update is your moment.

“Co-op is a religion to us. If you play co-op, it is best-in-class co-op by far.” — Randy Pitchford, Gearbox

That’s a bold claim, and Gearbox seems ready to back it up. Instanced loot is back, meaning nobody’s racing to grab a purple gun before it vanishes. Evaluate the new Borderlands for yourself, based on the published gameplay, which lasts a full 20 minutes. But more importantly, Borderlands 4 introduces dynamically scaled difficulty for each player, so everyone can contribute—whether they’re level 5 or level 50.

Borderlands changed co-op forever

Back when Borderlands 1 launched in 2009, there weren’t many shooters doing true four-player online co-op with a massive open world and Diablo-style loot systems. It wasn’t just a quirky FPS with a cartoon skin—it basically created the looter-shooter as we know it. The franchise showed that chaos and comedy could go hand-in-hand with crunchy RPG systems, and it spawned a generation of imitators.

Games like Destiny, The Division, and Outriders owe more to Borderlands than they probably want to admit. But co-op has evolved, and so have players’ expectations. That’s why Borderlands 4 pushing these new systems—lobbies that don’t suck, difficulty that scales, travel that isn’t a pain—is a big deal. It shows Gearbox isn’t just resting on its golden guns.

How it stacks up with the best

Borderlands is still a co-op beast, but it's not the only one. Here’s how it compares to the current kings of the genre at the top cooperative shooters table, by Metacritic data:

Out of all these, Left 4 Dead 2 still holds the crown for pure, focused teamwork. Deep Rock Galactic has carved out a loyal fanbase with its procedurally generated caverns and co-op mission variety. Helldivers 2 went full throttle on friendly fire and squad-based punishment. And Borderlands 2? Still one of the best RPG shooter co-ops ever made.

But with Borderlands 4 dropping friction points and leaning into smoother play, it’s set to reclaim its place at the top of that table.

Gearbox also revealed two new Vault Hunters: Harlowe the Gravitar and Amon the Forge Knight. That brings the launch roster to four, alongside Vex and Rafa. The loot meta is shifting too—Borderlands 4 will reduce the flood of Legendary items that made BL3 a bit too spammy. Expect more curated drops and less inventory Tetris.

One thing Gearbox didn’t reveal? The price. With Switch 2 and Series X games creeping into $80 territory, even Randy Pitchford didn’t confirm the final tag. Still, the game is confirmed for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch 2, all launching on September 12, 2025.

Co-op shooters are having a moment. We’ve got Payday 3 regrouping, Remnant II carving a Souls-like niche, and Helldivers 2 proving there's still space for tight, objective-driven carnage. But Borderlands 4 is doing something a little different: it’s refining chaos. This is a game where gun stats matter, builds matter, and now, finally, co-op UX matters too.

Instead of reinventing the vault, Gearbox is removing the stuff that slowed the fun. Want to jump in with friends? You don’t need to wait until you’ve cleared half the story. Want to get to them fast? No more 15-minute walks across Pandora. Want to keep things fair? Everyone fights their own fair fight thanks to level scaling.

Borderlands 4 isn’t just another loot grind—it’s shaping up to be the most co-op-friendly Borderlands yet. And if Gearbox can stick the landing, it could be the next great benchmark for how shared shooter chaos should feel in 2025.