Borderlands 3 wasn’t the only looty shooty announcement Gearbox and publisher 2K had lined up today. They also announced yet another re-release of the original trilogy (including Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel), this time with a few technical improvements, some optional 4k textures and some quality-of-life improvements for the first game. The good news for us PC folks is that if you already own the original Borderlands or either of the sequels, these upgrades will be entirely free. Below, a pair of predictably bombastic trailers for the polished-up loot n’ shooters.

The update on the first game is the most significant, bringing it far more in line with its sequels. There’s a mini-map and a reworked inventory system that allows you to lock gear or flag it for quick selling. They’re also bringing over the Golden Key system from the later games, letting you trade in these special promo keys for a roll of the dice and a chance at some rare gear. Owners of the later two games will get 75 keys to start them off. Among the loot (also available from killing enemies) will be a handful of new rare, unique weapons which may help killing the now less-rubbish final boss.



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Also ported over is the character customisation system from Borderlands 2 into the original game, so you’ll be able to swap out heads and hats. It’s not a huge upgrade, but it should make the return to the original (which was a bit monotone compared to its arguably too-loud sequels) a little more lively. All of these upgrades will be free for anyone who owns the game on Steam. While they’re not entirely clear about it, they do mention that anyone with the game gets the “Game Of The Year” version free, which includes four DLC packs, one of which lets you shoot Claptrap.

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The second and third (zero’th?) game in the series are due for some nice upgrades too. On top of some pin-sharp textures, they’ve remastered geometry on the environment, characters and weapons. They’ve also upgraded to some more modern anti-aliasing to help keep some of that toon-shaded detail. Other technical improvements include higher resolution shadows and improved ambient occlusion, which should add a lot more fine detail and texture the darker corners of Pandora and its moon. Not bad for a free upgrade.

The remasters are rolling out on April 3rd, less than a week away and will be free upgrades for anyone who owns Borderlands or its sequels. Coincidentally, Borderlands: The Handsome Collection (including the latter two games and all of their DLC) is on sale over on Steam for £11.51/€14.68/$14.81, or less if you have anything in the bundle already.