Borderlands 4 Announces DLC Story Release Date and Reveals New Gameplay

Borderlands 4 will receive its first story-focused DLC pack at the end of March this year, offering a more horror-oriented experience.

Borderlands 4 announces its first story DLC pack.

After a six-year hiatus, the Borderlands franchise returned in September 2025 with its fourth main installment. Upon its release, Borderlands 4 received generally positive reviews from critics. The game achieved a Top Critic Average score of 82 on OpenCritic, with 88% of critics recommending it.

A few weeks before Borderlands 4's release, developer Gearbox announced a rather large post-launch content roadmap, including two paid story DLCs. Each DLC is said to add a playable Vault Hunter, along with a host of new story missions, side quests, enemy types, bosses, and weapons.

Keeping its promise, the first DLC pack –  Story Pack 1  – has been revealed, along with its release date of March 26th. This information emerged during a recent Gearbox DevCast event, accompanied by the official trailer for the DLC pack.

The trailer provided a brief glimpse into the storyline, setting, and new enemy system, alongside the unique gameplay style of the  new Vault Hunter  . Much of the Gearbox DevCast was dedicated to delving deeper into the storyline of the upcoming DLC ​​and its connection to previous Borderlands installments.

Josh Jeffcoat, the creative director of the Mad Ellie and the Vault of the Damned DLC, has once again confirmed that this expansion will have a more pronounced horror theme. He also described the DLC's new setting as a glacial and wild landscape where players are dropped off in their quest for Ellie. In the DLC, players can also encounter fragments of Elpis – the moon Lilith crashed onto the planet Kairos before the events of Borderlands 4, and also the main setting of the game.

Of course, Mad Ellie will return in this DLC, but she's not the only returning character. One of the familiar faces is  the mysterious NPC from the  Guns, Love and Tentacles  DLC who fell into this desolate wasteland with Ellie,  and who may play a villainous role in this new DLC. Finally, a character from  Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel  has also been confirmed to be included.

Additionally, many enemy types from Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel will return in this DLC, including Kraggon and Scav, with their distinctive 'space Australian' accents. While the exact number of bosses hasn't been revealed, Jeffcoat says there will be 'plenty' of new threats for players to face. Players can replay these boss battles, either through  Moxxie   's  Big Encore machine or the new Nightmare Rift feature  .

In addition to the new storyline, Borderlands 4 Story Pack 1 will also add new achievements and cosmetic accessories for all characters – including Rogue. This character has been confirmed to be of the  Rogue class , and a detailed gameplay analysis will be released next week. A progress sharing feature will also be added to the game, allowing players to share SDUs  ,  explored maps, teleportation points, collectibles, and activity completion progress between characters.

During the DevCast, Jeffcoat also confirmed two ways for players to access the story DLC. The first is to complete the first four main story missions of  Borderlands 4,  which unlock a mission that takes players to a new DLC area. Alternatively, players can access the  Mad Ellie  DLC through the main menu, starting immediately with a new character already leveled up to level 13.