Borderlands archivists are racing to save the lost MMO before it disappears forever

The Borderlands franchise has seen just about everything—wild co-op shooters, chaotic loot fests, and endless memes about meat bicycles. But one piece of its history never made it to the West: Borderlands Online, a Chinese-exclusive MMO that launched in 2015 and vanished quietly a year later. Now, in 2025, a group of dedicated fans is trying to bring it back, and they’re asking for help before time runs out.

The project is being led by EpicNNG, a YouTuber, game designer, and dataminer, who previously managed to crack into the game’s class selection screen. But now he and his small team are stuck. They need more hands, specifically those who know their way around tools like DNSpy and Unity Ripper, to push through the final barriers and actually get the game playable.

"Number 1: We know that we have the full game, we have confirmed we have the full game. Number 2: We know that we can get in eventually, it is just a matter of when."

Borderlands Online: A ghost of a game

To understand why this project matters, you’ve got to rewind a bit. Borderlands Online was developed by 2K China as a free-to-play MMO tailored for Chinese audiences. It took the visual style and universe of the Borderlands series and blended them with systems common to Eastern MMOs—instanced dungeons, live-service elements, and regional monetisation models.

But the game never made it far. It shut down in 2016 before it ever got out of beta. No official localisation, no western release. Just scattered videos, gameplay clips, and leftover files floating around forums.

That’s where archivists like EpicNNG come in. They’ve managed to track down a complete build of the game, but making it playable? That’s an entirely different challenge. It’s a technical labyrinth—digging through old servers, dodging malware-infested download links, and interpreting years-old proprietary code. It’s a nightmare only the most passionate devs (or masochists) would touch.

The fear of a cease

There’s another problem: Borderlands 4 is coming, and that’s got the team spooked.

In his recent video call-to-action, EpicNNG lays it out plainly. The release of Borderlands 4 means renewed corporate interest in the IP. With more attention comes the increased chance that 2K’s legal team will step in to squash any unsanctioned Borderlands-related projects. Especially if there's a fear it might "distract" from the official game.

“Time is of the essence. Look at what Activision did with H2M—they pulled the plug just because it got traction ahead of a Call of Duty release. We’re worried 2K could do the same.”

That’s not paranoia. It’s precedent. Earlier this year, Activision shut down a Call of Duty fan mod simply because it was gaining popularity before a new release. The Borderlands Online team is walking the same tightrope: do too well, and you risk a takedown. Move too slow, and you lose the window.

Where Borderlands 3 fits into this

It’s worth looking at where Borderlands 3 stands in all this. Released in 2019, Borderlands 3 was Gearbox’s most polished (and divisive) entry. It doubled down on what made the series iconic—fast combat, co-op looting, and chaotic humour—but faced criticism for uneven writing, bloated endgame systems, and tech issues at launch.

Despite this, it sold over 15 million copies, cementing itself as a financial win and further entrenching Borderlands as one of 2K’s biggest IPs. Borderlands 3 also introduced seasonal events, Vault Cards, and high-end raids that pulled in MMO-like design elements, though it never went full online.

That’s where Borderlands Online could’ve shone—had it survived. It was a prototype for what a truly online Borderlands might have looked like. Instead of just adding MMO flavours to a looter-shooter, it was the MMO. Classes, skills, instance-based exploration—it was a different beast entirely.

The irony? The DNA of Borderlands Online is now scattered across the modern franchise, but the game itself remains unplayable. Which is why this archival effort feels urgent, especially before Borderlands 4 potentially wipes it from collective memory.

A quiet plea for help

The team’s latest call-to-action video is long, messy, and heartfelt. It documents their progress, their roadblocks, and their hopes. They don’t want money. They don’t want clout. They want Unity-savvy developers and reverse engineering wizards to jump in and lend their skills.

It’s not for the faint of heart. The files are incomplete in places. Some links are packed with viruses. The codebase is old and temperamental. But the team insists the full game is there—they just need more time and more minds to crack it open.

“We’ve got the build. We know it’s complete. We will get in—it’s just a matter of when.”

The tone is clear: if they don’t succeed soon, they may never get the chance again.

Preservation or purge?

From a game preservation standpoint, Borderlands Online represents a rare opportunity. It’s a region-locked, unreleased, unsupported product tied to a billion-dollar franchise. Most games like this vanish forever. Getting it running—even in a limited, offline way—would be a huge win for digital history and for the Borderlands community.

But there’s also a legal line that’s hard to ignore. 2K has the right to defend its IP. If Borderlands 4’s marketing campaign ramps up and a fan MMO starts trending, it wouldn’t be surprising to see legal action taken.

That’s the balancing act: revive the game, but stay small enough not to attract the wrong kind of attention.

If you’ve got experience with Unity decompilation, game reverse engineering, or just a deep love for forgotten games, this is your shot. Borderlands Online might never get an official release, but with enough effort, it could at least exist again in some playable form.

Until then, the battle continues. Not against skags or psychos—but against time, silence, and legal limbo.