Gearbox Showing New Game At E3, But It's Not Borderlands 3

The development team at Gearbox Software made it abundantly clear that it would not have Borderlands 3 at this year's E3 event. In fact, we're not likely to get a reveal of the sequel until sometime next year. But that doesn't mean it's coming to next week's gaming event empty-handed.

The team has noted that it will be hosting some behind-closed-doors sessions at the event for its forthcoming 1 vs. 1 multiplayer shooter, which is currently under the code name Project 1v1. The game is expected to be shown in 30 minute intervals and apparently no gameplay capture will be allowed.

Gearbox has been working on the game for some time. "Project 1v1 is the code name for Gearbox's top-secret, in-development, competitive first-person shooter that combines the action of fast-paced 1v1 first-person combat with the metagame strategy of a collectible card game," it noted when the game was initially announced.

The first screenshot for Project 1v1 is above and it looks like it's going for a dramatic approach, with a unique world design that is far different from anything in the Borderlands universe. It also appears to be far off from the anime style of Gearbox's last game, Battleborn.

There hasn't been too much talk about Project 1v1 since its initial announcement. We do know there was a closed beta test last year limited to a certain number of players, but outside of that, Gearbox has been pretty secretive about it. There is always the possibility that we could learn more about the game at E3, or maybe even during the PC Gaming Show that's set to take place this Monday. CEO Randy Pitchford and his team could easily introduce the game, as well as a potential title for it. That's not final but we should know more about it shortly, including a potential release date for either later this year or sometime in 2019.

Here's hoping that the shooter/card-based gameplay system gets worked out, offering players something fun to come back to. Gearbox could use a win after what happened to previous efforts like Aliens: Colonial Marines and Battleborn. Fingers crossed it'll be back on board before Borderlands!