Gearbox was "honored" to invite a terminally ill fan to play Borderlands 4 early: "His courage, strength, and determination are an inspiration to us all"

Developer Gearbox Software has shared some kind words for a terminally ill fan who was able to play an early build of the upcoming Borderlands 4, saying the team was "honored to host him" at the studio.

37-year-old Caleb McAlpine recently took to social media to share that a terminal cancer diagnosis has given him only months to live in the worst-case scenario, and under two years to live if his chemotherapy treatment goes well. Unsure of whether he'd be able to see Borderlands 4 at launch, McAlpine then had a simple request for fellow "die hard" fans of the looter shooter series. "Is there anyone that knows how to get in touch with Gearbox to see if there is a way to play the game early?" he asked last month.

Gearbox soon had McAlpine on a first class plane seat to visit the Texas-based studio and get an early look at next year's still in-development sequel. "We got to play what they have for Borderlands 4 so far and it was amazing," McAlpine wrote. "I don't know if I will be around when the game comes out but I just want to say thank you to all of you for all of your love and support and for helping in making this happen. It truly was an amazing experience and it was just awesome."

Gearbox has since acknowledged the fan's visit on social media, writing that the team is "deeply thankful to the Borderlands community for rallying around Caleb after he shared his story several weeks ago." It adds: "His courage, strength, and determination are an inspiration to us all. Our team was honored to host him last week at our studio."

CEO Randy Pitchford also chimed in: "Caleb is cool - a legit gamer who knows Borderlands inside and out. I'm glad he got a chance to play. I am praying he makes [it] to when we are done. Thanks, internet, for signal boosting Caleb's story." I'm glad to report that good things can still happen across the internet.