Gearbox invited a terminally ill fan to play Borderlands 4 ahead of release — "It truly was an amazing experience and it was just awesome"

A long shot that hit its target.

We don't know much about Borderlands 4 yet, other than it's supposed to launch in 2025, which we just know could turn into 2026 if there are late-development issues to address. A terminally ill fan wasn't sure that he'll still be around by then, and reached out to the community and Gearbox in hopes of playing an early build.

37-year-old gamer Caleb McAlpine posted on October 23 about his late-stage terminal cancer diagnosis, indicating that he'd be lucky to have "less than 2 years" in the case that chemotherapy helps, less if the cancer continues to rapidly advance. His only wish? To play Borderlands 4 early, no matter what stage of development it's currently in. He admitted it was a "long shot," but both the community and Gearbox quickly delivered.

Via IGN, we've learned his post went viral "with over 19,000 upvotes on Reddit alone" and eventually reached Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford, who vowed to "make something happen." Fast-forward to November 26 and Caleb was thanking everyone for the opportunity, also showing some photos of his trip to Gearbox's HQ.

"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 to when we are done. Thanks, internet, for signal boosting Caleb’s story," Pitchford added with his own follow-up on X/Twitter. The official Gearbox account also commented on his visit: "We’re deeply thankful to the Borderlands community for rallying around Caleb after he shared his story several weeks ago. His courage, strength, and determination are an inspiration to us all."

As part of the aforementioned after-visit post, Caleb added what Gearbox had so far "was amazing" and that he and one friend enjoyed a tour of Gearbox after being flown down in first class. Of course, they both had to sign an NDA, so the rest of us will be wondering for a while longer whether the studio is going for a more realistic art style teased in the CG trailer or the usual cartoony look.

In any case, this is the sort of heartwarming news the Borderlands community needed after the utterly dreadful live-action movie released this summer flopped and 2019's decent-enough Borderlands 3 failed to impress with its narrative and fell short of modern looter shooter standards. It's also a good reminder of what gaming is ultimately all about and how important fostering healthy online environments is to the medium.

We sincerely hope that Caleb is still with us once the game comes out and that he can open plenty of loot and weapon chests alongside the rest of Borderlands' lovely, trigger-happy community.