The Borderlands series has always been known for its dark humour. Ever since the first game back in 2009, the franchise pushed sensitive topics into jokes. Many of these touched on what people may deem as inappropriate. In 2024 (or 2025 when the game is set to launch), the world is a different place, and Gearbox Software doesn’t want to rely on toilet humour to make Borderlands 4 seem appealing. Instead, the game might go back to its dark humour and leave out the filthy stuff.
Sam Winkler, writer at Gearbox Software, says he cannot exactly confirm how “dark” Borderlands 4 will be when it comes to the humour, but he does agree that Borderlands 3 featured an overabundance of toilet humour.
By the sound of things, Borderlands 4 will be ditching the fart and feces jokes in favour of darker humour. The game is also going to be slightly more mature than other previous titles. Whether or not this will work for fans is still unclear, but we’ll have to wait and see how it plays out.
The good news here is that players will be hearing less “pull my finger” jokes and maybe more well-written jokes instead. Toilet humour is often seen as a cheaper, faster way to throw comedy into a media. However, it can come across as crass and uninspired.
Not at liberty to talk much about the content of BL4, but I remain firm in my criticism of BL3’s overabundance of toilet humor.
— Sam Winkler (@ThatSamWinkler) December 16, 2024
Borderlands 4 is currently in development. The game is scheduled to launch in 2025 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. During The Game Awards, Gearbox dropped the first look at the shooter. The trailer showcased some gameplay, the reveal of the Vault Hunters, some enemies, bosses, and the cool-looking locations.