Borderlands 3 sold "well beyond" Gearbox's expectations

Borderlands 3 sold well beyond expectations, Epic Games has revealed.

Speaking to PC Gamer in a new interview earlier this week, Epic Games Store general manager Steve Allison revealed Borderlands 3 had surpassed sales targets. It's apparently "just crushed, like, well beyond the expectations of the developers and the publishers," Allison said.

Borderlands 3 had a really long tail of post-launch content in the years following release, so perhaps the news of it selling gangbusters isn't really a huge surprise. Gearbox worked tirelessly to bring new Vault Hunters to the game after launch, as well as a full cross-play update linking together PC, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms.

There were even more granular updates for Borderlands 3, including new skill trees for characters like Moze, and brand new modes like Arms Race. Years and years of post-launch content make a lot more sense for a game that's performing well above the expectations of its developer and publisher.

Borderlands 3's excellent sales might've even factored into Embracer's purchase of Gearbox for $1.3 billion. If the looter shooter really has performed that well, it'd make sense for Gearbox to be an appealing acquisition target, especially given that the studio's committed to extending the Borderlands franchise with Tiny Tina's Wonderlands. 

Oh, and then there's the Borderlands movie to contend with. It's not unreasonable to expect Borderlands 3 to get a little sales boost if the movie performs well, so the sequel could be set for even bigger things in the future. 

Check out our new games 2023 guide for a look at all the games currently on the horizon.