Borderlands 3 Will Be "Funny, Edgy," But Not "Insensitive"

The Borderlands series has always been known for its signature humor, which some love, while others find a bit cringy. And of course, this isn't changing for Borderlands 3 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. However, Gearbox is more mindful of what it's putting out with the newest entry compared to previous installments. For example, the developer isn't straying away from being funny and even edgy, but it's cognizant of the line where funny and edge seeps into cruel and insensitive, and it's a line the developer doesn't want to cross.

Speaking with PCGamesN at Gamescom, producer on the game, Chris Brock, revealed that jokes are more or less funneled through the whole team to make sure the writing team doesn't miss something that could be deemed offensive.

"We talk about it and think about it a lot more," said Brock about the game's humor. "I think in the past, we've just kinda done stuff. But now we say 'okay we have this joke and we want to run it by the studio'. And the studio's huge now – we have people 400 people in Dallas and 100 people in Quebec. So we go 'how does this joke land with everybody?'"

Brock continued, talking about what he'd say to his team:

"We've all got a personal line, some of our lines will be crossed, but we have to as a team, understand that we're putting our best foot forward. Be edgy, be funny, don't be cruel, don't be insensitive, be understanding, be sympathetic. We have a very diverse studio culture, and everybody wants to represent that."

Humor in games is hard, especially the type Borderlands goes for. That said, it will be interesting to see how its received in 2019, which is a much different climate than 2014, when Gearbox last shipped a game in the series.

Borderlands 3 is in development for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and is set to release on September 13, priced at $60. For more news, media, and information on the madcap looter-shooter, be sure to check out all of our previous and extensive coverage of the highly-anticipated title by clicking right here.