New DLC found via steamdb

UPDATE: On March 29th, Gearbox unveiled Borderlands 3, along with remasters of all previous games. The DLC is now believed to be the UHD update which drops April 3rd 2019

On June 6th, a new DLC for Borderlands 2 was revealed.

This article was brought you in conjunction with YouTuber SupMatto. I recommend you check out his channel for more Borderlands information.

New Borderlands DLC is on its way after a SteamDB package has been discovered.

The discovery was made by myself and YouTuber Matto. After a series of updates were made on SteamDB. We both reached the conclusion that Gearbox is bringing some form of an update to their 2015 looter shooter. We also discovered six sub IDs for Borderlands 2 which have are being regularly updated lately. Over the course of this article, I will be breaking down the information and offering an opinion on what it could mean.

A new batch of six sub IDs has cropped up on the list of packages for Borderlands 2. Oddly enough, they were last updated in September. Each one seems to be something in the form of a CD Key. These are perhaps the most puzzling out of all the info and if I were to hazard a guess, they all represent a single ID. For example, Sub 308211 is banned in Brazil whereas 308212 is banned in India. We already know that Borderlands 2 has a separate version for Russia. The likelihood of these IDs being anything exciting is slim but we have only just scratched the surface; when we take a look at the history for the Borderlands 2 depot, we can see the game has constant updates to its ‘encrypted manifests’ and ‘build IDs’.

There have also been changes to something called ‘Mancana content’. Mancana is a type of tree. It could be possible Gearbox chose a random word to act as a placeholder for their name changes.

I know, I know. So far no joy but the next set of depots might tickle your fancy. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel was released in 2014, making it the latest title in the franchise (excluding Tales From The Borderlands). Matt reported a few weeks back about a tip-off he had received from anonymous sources about new DLC heading to a Borderlands game. This was an outlandish claim but is now one that is looking to be true:

Above is a list of the downloadable content for the Pre-Sequel. As you can see, an unknown app has popped up from nowhere. We can’t access any information about the app, however. What we can do is look at the history of changes. This reveals that it was added to the 2K developer pack. I’m no expert on SteamDB but this is shaping up to look like a new DLC. What kind of DLC you ask? Well, Borderlands fan might recognize Luxy’s Space Adventure, a canceled expansion revolving around a getaway-themed storyline onboard a cruise ship. Due to the underwhelming success of the Pre-Sequel, 2K Australia closed its doors leaving Luxy and his friends in fruition indefinitely. I’m not saying that Gearbox will bring back this DLC but it seems a logical move as fans are already aware of the DLC’s existence.

Taking a delve into the Pre-Sequel’s depot history yields an interesting discovery; Under the ailanthus branch (which also happens to be a type of tree), a number is changed under the name ‘carcosa’. For those familiar with H.P Lovecraft, Carcosa is a term that was used by Lovecraft, referencing the fictional city of Carcosa, originally used in a collection of stories named ‘The King in Yellow’ which had a supernatural setting (more on that later). Now call me a conspiracy theorist but doesn’t ‘The King in Yellow’ sound like Jack? After all, Handsome Jack loves to don his yellow shirt which bears the company colors of yellow.

What’s more, the city of Carcosa is located in the Hyades Cluster. Those of you who are well versed in Greek Mythology might recognize that Hyades are the daughters of Atlas. Oddly enough, the company Atlas is rumored to have a big presence in Borderlands 3 due to their involvement on Prometheus. As for the supernatural setting, Halloween is approaching and there’s a chance that the mystery DLC is tied to a spooky setting. Hastur, the name of a character from this collection of short stories is the real King in Yellow. A supernatural character who exists in the Cthulhu mythos. Could we be seeing some kind of story that bridges the lore gap to Borderlands 3 involving Jack as The King in Yellow? Moreover, will it be arriving by Halloween?

While nothing is concrete, we can now see that these sources that Matto has received are telling the truth. It’s only a matter of time before Gearbox drops the DLC. Want to see Matt’s interpretation of the findings? You can watch his video below:

Despite the recently announced Borderlands 2 VR being passed off as the DLC, I think it’s safe to assume this new entry into the DLC database is no accident. 2K Australia is defunct meaning there would be no logical reason for Gearbox to fiddle around with the files other than a small system update. What do you think? Is it a new DLC or is it a glitch in the system? Let’s discuss it in the comments.

UPDATE 24/10/18 – The Borderlands community has figured out that Gearbox uses the names of trees to code their big projects and bushes for their smaller ones; for example, Borderlands 2 was willow and their upcoming title, Project 1v1 is named after a bush. Both Ailanthus and Mancana are types of trees. Ideas have been put forward as to what these projects could be, one of which being Borderlands 2 VR while the other remains a mystery although some are suspecting Borderlands 3 to be the culprit. Youtuber Mental Mars identified this plant coding system. A Gearbox employee responded to the tweet with a whimsical reply: