Borderlands 4's jetpack and grappling hook were prophesied 6 years ago through a Borderlands 3 joke poking fun at the era's FPS tropes by shooting them into space

A Borderlands 3 joke seemingly predicted some of Borderlands 4's biggest new additions six whole years ago.

Redditor No-Heat3462 spotted an easy-to-miss joke that appears in the game's central hub, the spaceship of Sanctuary 3. In one section, Ellie needs to make some room and put out a fire, but by opening the vent into space, some initially inconspicuous items also get sucked into the void.

"Well, there goes the grapple-grabber, jetpack, and all the left-handed guns… guess it wasn't meant to be," she mourns. At the time, the line might've been a jab at FPS tropes from the era - almost every shooter (and their dads) had a jetpack and/or grappling hook, from Titanfall and Star Wars Battlefront to Apex Legends and various Call of Duties. The joke could also be read as mechanics Gearbox Software tried to introduce in the threequel, but ultimately failed at.

Either way, you won't find any similar jokes in Borderlands 4. The upcoming looter shooter has a jetpack and a grappling hook, funnily enough, an entire console generation after they became trendy in the FPS landscape. (That's kind of more amusing than the joke itself.)

As for those left-handed weapons, one of Borderlands 4's new playable vault hunters, Rafa, actually has access to a lance on his left arm that can briefly turn into a gun that spurts out bursts of shock. Close enough, I'd say.

Elsewhere in Borderlands land, Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford recently warned folks not to expect the game to receive major price drops or jump into a subscription service anytime soon (sounds like something an exec who wants you to buy their new AAA game at full price would say.)

Borderlands 4 dev says "the way we've done guns before is great," but Gearbox is still overhauling its weapons to offer even "more opportunity for surprise"