Last week, the Borderlands 2 instruction manual was posted to Steam. A mere several hours later, it was pulled back down. It seems that there was something in there that Gearbox wasn't ready for people to discover just yet.

That "something" was today revealed to be "Gearbox Shift," an online account-based service that allows players to "redeem Shift Codes to unlock exclusive content for Borderlands 2," according to the manual. The manual even hints at a rare golden in-game chest, the contents of which are only accessible via a Shift Code.

Until now, the only official acknowledgement of the Shift service comes from a Gearbox post on the company's official forums: "Attending a Gearbox event is just one example of the many ways we could possibly distribute such codes. I can't imagine us limiting distribution to physical proximity, especially with such a passionate community located all throughout the world."

Since then, Gearbox finally spoke out, claiming that the Shift program will allow the studio to distribute in-game digital materials such as "golden keys," along with news updates and exclusive methods of fan interaction. Additionally, the Shift system probably won't be confined to just Borderlands 2. Does this mean that we can expect to be trading exclusive codes in Aliens: Colonial Marines and the revamped Furious Four?