So will Borderlands 3 be at E3 2018 or not? Gearbox’s answer isn’t so simple

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Rage 2 (opens in new tab) was announced earlier this week and, with its happy-go-lucky approach to an open-world post-apocalypse game, the comparisons to Gearbox’s Borderlands series were inevitable. 

Some commentators even worried whether Bethesda’s unexpected sequel would be completely overshadowed by the long awaited Borderlands 3, should that be one of the officially revealed E3 2018 games (opens in new tab) later next month. 

• E3 2018 schedule (opens in new tab): How and when to watch all the big E3 press conferences

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But will Borderlands 3 be showing up at the entertainment expo at all? While it’s true that last week’s Walmart Canada leak (opens in new tab) (which accurately revealed the existence of Rage 2) showed a listing for the title, and we do know that the game is actively in development at the studio, a story from Shacknews (opens in new tab) reports that Gearbox recently told a group of journalists that there will be no new Borderlands announcements this year.

Then there’s Randy Pitchford (opens in new tab), Gearbox’s CEO, who injected himself into yesterday’s conversation with a weirdly convoluted update that sorta, kinda, maybe closed the lid on all of these Borderlands E3 murmurings. 

He addressed fans in the form of a Twitter thread, which began with a short history of the magician Todd Robbins before side-tracking into ruminations on the nature of belief and finally ended with a message that somehow both confirmed and denied that Borderlands 3 will be at E3 2018. 

You can read the whole thread if you want, but here’s the important tweet that actually relates to what you ought to know. 

4/ For example, I could write it out now precisely and specifically that “Borderlands 3” will not be at E3 and many of you will choose not to believe it. Many of you will find a way to interpret the intent to suit what you want to believe regardless of what is true.May 15, 2018

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So… yeah. Pitchford writes that Borderlands 3 will not be at E3, but he also makes the statement hypothetically, arguing that to actually come out and say it would only add further fuel to the hype fire. 

Interestingly enough, Pitchford did just that a few weeks ago by tweeting out a link (opens in new tab) to the Schoolhouse Rock song “3 is a magic number”, though this may have just been a tribute to the recent passing of composer Bob Dorough.

If I had to make a prediction, it very much sounds like Borderlands 3 won’t be appearing at E3 this year, though Pitchford’s weirdly muddled answer does lead room for scepticism about what Gearbox has up its sleeve for next month.

In better news, Pitchford ended his thread by stating that the studio is “working harder than we have ever worked in order to create new and exciting things in hopes of entertaining you.” New and exciting, aye? Battleborn 2 anyone? 

As the wait continues for Borderlands 3, you can at least bide your time with our extensive list of the best co-op games (opens in new tab) that you can play right now.