Borderlands 3 coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X with free next-gen upgrade

Next-gen version will add four-player splitscreen local co-op

Borderlands 3 is making the leap to next-generation consoles. At its PAX Online panel on Saturday, Gearbox Software confirmed that PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions of Borderlands 3 are in development. They’ll will be a free upgrade for existing owners of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game.

The PS5 and Xbox Series X versions of Borderlands 3 will run at 4K resolution and 60 frames per second in single-player mode. Gearbox says that players on current-generation consoles will be able to bring all the downloadable content they’ve purchased, as well as their saves, to the next-gen edition of the game.

Borderlands 3 for next-gen consoles will also come with new co-op features: four-player splitscreen for local multiplayer and vertical splitscreen for two players. (Vertical splitscreen is also coming to the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game, via a free update.)

Gearbox has additional updates in the works for Borderlands 3, including new skill trees for all Vault Hunter classes, a new game mode, and new Action Skills, as part of paid downloadable content. The developer also hinted at cross-platform play coming in 2021.

At PAX Online, Gearbox detailed one of those new skill trees. FL4K’s “Trapper” skill tree “emphasizes shields and survivability for both FL4K and their pet.” FL4K’s new Action Skill, Gravity Snare, is a crowd-control trap ability that tosses enemies into the air and slams them down to the ground.

FL4K is also getting a new pet, a Hyperion Loaderbot, which includes the following combat options:

there’s the range-based ION Loader, which fires slow-moving projectiles can be shot to create powerful shock novas; the BUL Loader, which charges enemies and knocks them into the air with its shield (or just roundhouse kicks them); and the WAR Loader, which packs an incendiary shotgun, can toss grenades, and unleashes homing missiles on command.

Borderlands 3 is available now on Google Stadia, Mac, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One. A release date for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions was not announced.