CEO Randy Pitchford addressed this at PAX East (transcription via PC Gamer), noting the team had “made a big freaking world” and that “A lot of the things you do can be local space, but a lot of the things you do or want to do are out there, and a local space map is not a good way to navigate when you’re thinking about objectives and opportunities – several at the same time that might be miles away – and a compass really helps us do that.”

The regular map is still available, and players can pull it up at any time. However, this change in direction is more about Gearbox wanting players to “Play the game and not play the map. So we made a commitment, and we put all of that investment into this compass system, and you still have the big map. It’s one click away. 

“And we put more cool stuff in there than we’ve ever done before. We even have, like, an AI-driven kind of navigation system that will give you a GPS on the big map to show you the line of where you can go.”

Though the development team is “open to thinking about things in the future,” Pitchford asked players to “[P]lay the game first and understand the choices we’ve made, and I think you’ll see and understand when you realize how big this world is and how playing the game in the world is better than playing the map.”

Borderlands 4 launches on September 12th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2. The price has yet to be announced, with Pitchford unaware, though he believes it could cost $80.

Stay tuned for updates, and in the meantime, check out some story mission gameplay highlighting the traversal, combat, and new Vault Hunter skills. Gearbox has also confirmed that you can replay story missions and boss fights. Head here for more details.

That much remains to be seen. However, as far as the upcoming Borderlands 4 is concerned, developer Gearbox Entertainment’s CEO Randy Pitchford has suggested that an $80 price point for the looter shooter is a possibility. 

Speaking at a PAX East panel (via GamesRadar), Pitchford said that he doesn’t know yet what Borderlands 4’s price is going to be, explaining that the decision hasn’t been made yet behind the scenes. That said, he went on to add that with Borderlands 4 having been developed on a budget that was more than twice as high as Borderlands 3’s budget, there’s a chance that the price reflects that. 

“I’ll tell you the truth. I don’t know. That is the truth. I’ll hit it straight on,” Pitchford said. “It’s an interesting time. On one level, we’ve got a competitive marketplace where the people making those choices want to sell as many units as possible and they want to be careful about people that are price-sensitive. There are some folks who don’t want to see prices go up, even the ones deciding what the prices are.

“Other folks are accepting the reality that game budgets are increasing, and there are tariffs for the retail packaging. It’s getting gnarly out there, you guys. Borderlands 4 has more than twice the development budget for Borderlands 3. More than twice. So the truth is, I don’t know what the price is going to be.”

Pitchford went on to add that Borderlands 4’s price “might be the new price that Nintendo and Microsoft have led with,” but at the same time, said that there’s also a chance that “it might be that we stay back.” With the game’s pre-orders supposedly not too far away from going live, we will likely know for sure one way or another soon enough. 

Borderlands 4 launches on September 12 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.