The tone of Borderlands 4 is intended to land somewhere between the feel of the first two games, and Gearbox says while it isn't just relying on meme humor, players should still expect the "zaniness" that the series is known for.
In an interview with senior project producer Anthony Nicholson, as part of our Borderlands 4 Big in 2025 Preview, we asked about narrative director Sam Winkler's comments that suggested he'd cry real tears if terms like 'skibidi toilet' and 'hawk tuah' appeared in the game. In response, Nicholson said that the team remains "proud of the worlds we've created and stories told in previous Borderlands titles," but notes that "the art of making games evolves over time, and audience expectations for both stories and the way we tell them change as well."
