Borderlands 4 Narrative Director Remains 'Firm' in His Criticism of Borderlands 3’s 'Overabundance of Toilet Humor'

[Wesley Yin-Poole]

Borderlands 4’s narrative director has hinted at a cut-back on the toilet humor the series is famous for.


Gearbox’s Sam Winkler tweeted to say he remains “firm” in his criticism of Borderlands 3’s “overabundance of toilet humor.”

Not at liberty to talk much about the content of BL4, but I remain firm in my criticism of BL3's overabundance of toilet humor.

— Sam Winkler (@ThatSamWinkler) December 16, 2024

Then, responding to a user who joked that they wouldn’t be able to use “the poop poop farty 4,000 while doing a mission to clean up porta-potties with my companion skibidi toilet!?!?!?” Winkler said: “I’m not gonna say there’s no toilets but if the word skibidi ships in the game under my watch I’m gonna cry real tears.”

I’m not gonna say there’s no toilets but if the word skibidi ships in the game under my watch I’m gonna cry real tears. Paul Tassi joked that we were gonna have a gun called Hawk 2A and a fellow dev asked me if it was real and I wanted to put my hand down the sink grinder

— Sam Winkler (@ThatSamWinkler) December 16, 2024

The Borderlands series, which began with the first game’s release in 2009, is known as much for its humor as it is its loot-driven gameplay. The tone of the jokes have remained relatively consistent throughout the franchise’s run, which takes in 2012’s Borderlands 2, 2014’s The Pre-Sequel, and 2019’s Borderlands 3. Indeed, toilet humor has served Borderlands well so far, with total franchise sales now up to an impressive 81 million copies. But the debut teaser trailer for Borderlands 4 suggested a darker tone this time, and the latest trailer, unveiled at The Game Awards 2024, reinforced this shift.


The TGA 2024 trailer showed snippets of first-person shooting and a few returning characters, including Claptrap.

Here's the official blurb from Gearbox:

Revealed at The Game Awards, a new trailer introduces The Timekeeper, a ruthless dictator who dominates the masses from on high. A world-altering catastrophe threatens his perfect Order, unleashing mayhem across Kairos, the most dangerous planet discovered so far in the Borderlands universe.

Borderlands 4 is the most ambitious Borderlands to date, lovingly hand-crafted by the development studio that first forged the looter shooter genre. The title evolves the series’ gameplay and storytelling in new ways while delivering on the quintessential Borderlands experience fans know and love, including:

Intense action, badass Vault Hunters, and billions of wild and deadly weapons on an all-new planet ruled by a ruthless tyrant.

The deepest and most diverse Vault Hunter skill trees of any Borderlands title yet, giving players an unprecedented level of expression through their builds. Paired with the most expansive loot chase yet, players will have all the tools they need to seek out and perfect the build that best matches their style.

Players will be able to seamlessly travel between zones and become immersed in a more dynamic world featuring events and discoverable side missions that encourage and reward exploration.

New traversal mechanics add to the exploration for loot and add new dimensions to combat. A vehicle that can be summoned almost anywhere will have players racing across the beautiful vistas of Kairos in style.

Fight solo or in co-op with up to three other players in this immense sci-fi adventure, packed with free-form combat and exploration, pulse-pounding boss fights, infinitely varied loot drops, and an eclectic cast of unforgettable characters new and old.

"Borderlands 4 is about freedom and being badass,” said Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford. “This is by far the biggest and most insane world we’ve ever made - it's overloaded with jerkface ratnozzle scrote monsters that need to be put down with the most over-the-top hardcore nuts op guns and loot in any game ever. Oh, and the story also seriously kicks ass!”

Borderlands 4 is set to launch at some point in 2025, and comes after the disastrous launch of the Borderlands movie.


Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].