During GuardianCon, developer Gearbox Softwares revealed that Borderlands 3 will an Apex Legends style ping system. One component in a suite of accessibility options, users will be able to ping weapons, enemy positions, and other interactables. This will be accompanied by contextual voice lines, which help highlight what you’re trying to show teammates.
Introduced in Respawn Entertainment’s Apex Legends, the ping system has been quickly adopted by major multiplayer games such as Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Along with this ping mechanic, Borderlands 3 will include adjustable closed captioning and the ability to remap every button on the controller. You can see how this mechanic functions in the video below.
Borderlands 3 will also boast four-player duels, which is a series first. Previously, players could only challenge one member of their squad, but this will change letting your entire group battle it out. Typically this is just for bragging rights, as Borderlands has always been a cooperative shooter and not a competitive one. There will also be group and asynchronous matchmaking so you can play while the game looks for teammates.
Finally, Gearbox revealed a variety of streaming features including special in-game events that will trigger if certain conditions are met. Viewers can also look at the streamer’s loadout and skills on the fly, which should alleviate having to constantly answer that question during sessions. Called ECHOcast, this extension requires players to link their Shift and Twitch accounts to work. This is the same for obtaining in-game loot during the stream, so make sure to connect these two services together if you plan on watching a lot of streamers when the game releases.
Borderlands 3 is still a couple of months away, but it’s shaping up to be the biggest entry in the franchise to date.