Borderlands 3 adds new skill trees and co-op features, cross-play news next year

The global pandemic may have stopped the events in person, but the show must go on. Gearbox announced at PAX Online that Borderlands 3 will receive a host of new features in the coming months, including 4-player and vertical co-op, new skill trees, and the possibility of cross-play support.

Remember the old vertical split screen from the original Borderlands? He was a thorn in the side of many local cooperative players, but hard-core fans came to love his quirks. After requesting to be added back to the series, Gearbox has obliged. Vertical split screen will return when Borderlands 3 hits Xbox Series X and PS5. To make it even better, Gearbox is also adding a 4-player split-screen co-op mode. Both features will be available to all gamers for free and will come to the Xbox One and PS4 versions of the game through a patch. Although the game does not support cross-play yet, we should hear more news on that sometime next year.

Gearbox also revealed that fans can look forward to more paid DLC on the horizon, although it won’t come in the form of campaign expansions like the Season Pass offered. Instead, the studio is looking to add a new game mode along with new skill trees for each Vault Hunter.

Only the new FL4K skill tree was detailed, but it gives us an idea of ​​what to expect. They will soon have a Trapper skill tree, which emphasizes shields and survivability. The new action skill, Gravity Snare, is a throwing trap that flings enemies into the air before knocking them to the ground. A Loaderbot pet completes the new FL4K skill tree.

The company also revealed that Borderlands 3 will run at 4K at 60FPS on Xbox Series X and PS5 in single player, with free next-gen updates available.