An unlikely sequel is on the way. New Tales from the Borderlands is the sequel to the 2014 to 2015 narrative adventure from 2K Games and Telltale Games, Tales from the Borderlands. The original Tales from the Borderlands followed a motley group of misfits outside of the usual range of Vault Hunters, and now it appears the sequel will as well.
A lot has changed in the Borderlands universe since we first got a narrative-focused game in Tales from the Borderlands, which actually ended up being one of the best Xbox games for story-first players and fans of Borderlands alike. This means that it’ll be interesting to see how this entry further shakes things up. Here’s everything you need to know about New Tales from the Borderlands.
What is New Tales from the Borderlands?
Like its predecessor, New Tales from the Borderlands is a narrative-focused game, meaning that it’s quite different from usual entries in the Borderlands franchise. Unlike its predecessor, New Tales from the Borderlands is not being developed by Telltale Games. Instead, it is a game being developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K Games.
Most Borderlands games are first-person “looter shooters” where the goal is to constantly collect better guns and other gear and shooting and smashing through thousands of enemies. Tales from the Borderlands was a big exception to this rule, being instead a “choose your own adventure” game in the vein of other Telltale Games projects like The Wolf Among Us.
Players explore their surroundings, make dialogue decisions, and complete quick-time events, with the story branching and responding to the choices and comments that players have made. Like the prior game, New Tales from the Borderlands is divided into five episodes making up the game. Unlike its predecessor however, New Tales from the Borderlands will not be launching one episode at a time. Instead, every episode is included in the game from day one.
This was a major issue with Tales from the Borderlands, as well as other Telltale Games’ projects. While the first episode of Tales from the Borderlands launched in November 2014, the story wouldn’t be complete until the arrival of Episode 5 in October 2015, almost a year later. On average, players were generally kept waiting for two to three months for each new episode to arrive, something that players won’t have to worry about with New Tales from the Borderlands.
When the original Telltale Games closed in 2018, it seemed like Tales from the Borderlands would forever remain without any sequels. Things changed when 2K Games acquired the rights to Tales from the Borderlands in February 2021, then went on to announce New Tales from the Borderlands in April 2022. The Telltale Games brand has been revived and is working on new projects, including The Wolf Among Us 2, but does not have any involvement in New Tales from the Borderlands.
New Tales from the Borderlands: Characters
Borderlands games always feature a new cast of characters, with the protagonists of the prior games showing up as recurring characters. Despite being a very different style of game, that same pattern holds true here with New Tales from the Borderlands.
Thanks to a listing of New Tales from the Borderlands going live early before the planned full reveal of the game, we got some details on New Tales from the Borderlands ahead of the first trailer. New Tales from the Borderlands features three playable main characters: Anu, Octavio, and Fran. Meanwhile, the supporting cast will be made up of a mixture of new and returning characters from across all walks of life in the Borderlands universe.
Anu is described as being an “altruistic scientist” who is accompanied by her “streetwise” brother Octavio. Rounding out the trio of protagonists is Fran the Frogurt-slinger. These three will have to deal with massive threats, and player choices will determine just how successful they are.
The story is set on the planet Promethea, which was previously introduced as a major location in Borderlands 3, which saw the Atlas corporation — under the leadership of Tales from the Borderlands protagonist Rhys — fighting off an invasion from Maliwan, a rival corporation. While Atlas was successful in defeating the invaders, the planet is described as being the home of a perpetual war.
New Tales from the Borderlands: Preorders
Preorders for New Tales from the Borderlands initially went live (seemingly by mistake) on Aug. 17, 2022, before being pulled down after a couple of hours. That was still enough time for us to check out some interesting details regarding what’s available in the game.
Preorders for New Tales from the Borderlands Deluxe Edition — which is launching at $50 — will include the Adventure Capital Pack, which grants players cosmetics for the three aforementioned main characters, as well as a “FL4K Vaultlander” collectible and 10,000 in-game credits. New Tales from the Borderlands will be available physically as well as digitally.
New Tales from the Borderlands is a multi-platform game, so it’ll be available across Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC, PS5, PS4, and Nintendo Switch.
New Tales from the Borderlands: Release date
According to the initial leaked listing for the game, New Tales from the Borderlands is scheduled to launch on Oct. 21, 2022. The game was originally announced as launching sometime in 2022, with no specific release date beyond that information.
Recently, many games have been delayed frequently and unexpectedly due to the general state of game development last couple of years. As such, we’ll have to wait and see whether New Tales from the Borderlands makes it on time or whether the developers at Gearbox Software will need a bit longer to finish polishing the experience.
