Gearbox Software has a new Borderlands episodic narrative adventure coming this October, a follow-up to Telltale Games’ excellent 2015 game series, Tales from the Borderlands. But rather than focusing on heroes Rhys and Fiona from the original Tales series, the new game, fittingly titled New Tales from the Borderlands, will give players control of three new characters that Gearbox calls “lovable losers” on a world-saving adventure.
That trio of non-heroes includes Anu, an “altruistic scientist,” her wannabe-streetwise (but amusingly hapless) brother Octavio, and Fran, the owner of a froyo shop in the metropolis of Promethea. These three are clearly not Vault Hunter material; they’re “downtrodden, intrepid civilians” trying to survive an invasion of their home world by weapons manufacturer Tediore.
On Tuesday, at Gamescom Opening Night Live, Gearbox showed off New Tales from the Borderlands in action for the first time. That trailer is full action, humor, and what appears to be an action-figure battle and a game show with sharks. Like the original Tales from the Borderlands, players won’t be concerned with first-person shooting and loot-grabbing. New Tales from the Borderlands is all about narrative choices, and the decisions that players make along the way will determine how the story plays out.
Tales from the Borderlands was developed by Telltale Games and told one story over five episodic releases. After Telltale Games closed in 2018, the franchise was sold to 2K Games, the owner of the Borderlands franchise. This new game will be published by 2K and developed by Borderlands studio Gearbox.
New Tales from the Borderlands will be released Oct. 21, on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The digital-only standard edition of the game costs $39.99. A deluxe edition (available both physically and digitally) will cost $49.99 and include the original Tales from the Borderlands.