It wasn't shown at The Game Awards, but two unofficial reveals for "Borderlands 3" outline the well-anticipated looter-shooter with information on characters, settings, with a full reveal expected by the end of 2019.
Two YouTube channels have stepped forward with information about the highly anticipated sci-fi action game "Borderlands 3," sketching out four playable characters and various offworld settings.
The Know that went first with its cache of details in a December 6 video, published ahead of The Game Awards 2018 later that day.
As with its predecessors, the characters that players can choose from will be new to the franchise.
One is a soldier, said The Know, able to summon a mechanized battle suit similar with a turret that other players can hop into.
As with "Borderlands" and "Borderlands 2," there would be a superpowered Siren character. In a twist on the usual formula, this one would be focused on close quarters combat.
A third character would be an assassin with a decoy skill, while a fourth, a beastmaster, can command one of three pets, but requires further testing.
The Know's source expected an official announcement during the first half of 2019, while suggesting "Borderlands 3" may be teased at The Game Awards (it wasn't).
As for a setting, there would be multiple vaults -- well-guarded troves of weapons and equipment -- one of several aspects expanded upon by YouTuber and "Borderlands" fan SupMatto, who said he had received similar details in September.
The soldier character is female, he said, as seen in a 2017 tech demo from franchise studio Gearbox.
The beastmaster is a robot with a patched-together clothing style; in contrast the assassin is a "wealthy character" with "some classier customization options." The Siren is a "black female who is buff as hell."
The game appears to be set around ten years after "Borderlands 2," as returning character Tiny Tina is now in her late teens or early 20s. Cheeky robot Claptrap would also return.
As for location, SupMatto named three planets that "Borderlands 3" visits -- "Borderlands" and "Borderlands 2" home Pandora, another alien world Promethea, and new planet Eden Six -- in pursuit of new faction, the Children of the Vault.
Among other things, "Borderlands 3" is "far more likely to be announced at PAX East with a late 2019 release," he suggested. Game expo PAX East takes place at the end of March and has been a Gearbox favorite, even if related mid-January event PAX South is closer to its Texas base.
Following the publication of that video, SupMatto received renders for three characters, which fellow "Borderlands" YouTuber HayderHype and Reddit user shyataroo linked to an October posting on Imgur.com.
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