Today 2K reported that Borderlands 3 sold over 5 million copies within five days, becoming the second franchise in 2K history to generate $1 billion in net bookings. What's interesting is that in August 2019, 2K reported that 48 million copies of Borderlands games have been shipped ever since the release of the first game way back in 2009 with 22 million from Borderlands 2 alone. Adding Borderlands 3's 5 million on top of that (which is sure to go up as we near the holiday period) puts it 53 million units. This effectively makes it one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time and it isn't even ten years old yet!
Strauss Zelnick said:
Other franchises that originated last-gen such as Minecraft, Assassin's Creed and Just Dance have reached similar milestones. I never would have expected popping the original Borderlands' disc into my 360 way back in 2009 that it would become the beast that it is today. That last-minute art style change did wonders to establish the series' identity among samey looking FPS games that release year after year. Throw in some zany, junky humor and you have a recipe for success that resonates with millions around the world, getting into co-op hijinks with friends and family alike. I have some really fond memories of going through Borderlands and Borderlands 2 with my brother back in the day, grinding way into the night getting some cool loot so I'm glad Gearbox hasn't forgotten what made it popular in the first place.
This is a crazy achievement and feels like a little redemption arc for Gearbox, especially after Battleborn was negatively received. Five years in development finally paid off for the folks over at Gearbox Texas and Quebec. Borderlands has a great community and it's nice that Gearbox make it such an integral part of the series. The series near and dear to my heart so I'm glad to see it go strong almost a decade later and seven years after the release of the last mainline title. Here's to another decade of Borderlands, friends.
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