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Fans of Gearbox Software have been waiting with bated breath to know just what the team behind Borderlands was up to, having confirmed that a next-gen game would be announced sooner than later (and it would certainly not be Borderlands 3). Now that mystery has been solved, with the developer revealing Battleborn, taking the studio's experience in first-person shooters into the MOBA genre on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

As the game's announcement trailer (embedded above) shows, the team hasn't restricted themselves to a single setting or universe. With E3 2014 featuring cartoony futuristic soldiers (Evolve) and fantasy archetypes (Fable Legends), it looks like Battleborn will get to enjoy both styles - and many, many others.

But just like the Borderlands series before it, the developers have cooked up a fictional setting and story that makes the presence of knights, princesses, samurai and space marines seem like a universe that should have been created years ago:

In Battleborn's distant future, the only hope for the last star in a dying universe is a new breed of warriors, who must put aside their differences to drive back an unstoppable menace. Choose from a myriad of powerful heroes and fight together alongside your friends in an intense co-operative campaign, or battle against them in fast-paced competitive multiplayer matches.

More specific details about the core gameplay have yet to be revealed, so fans will have to make due with the temporary cover art seen above. Gearbox president Randy Pitchford did tease fans in the official press release that the game is looking to be a history-making enterprise for the studio:

"If Borderlands 2 is a shooter-looter, Battleborn is a hero-shooter... As a genre-fused, hobby-grade, co-operative and competitive FPS exploding with eye-popping style and an imaginative universe, Battleborn is the most ambitious video game that Gearbox has ever created."

The good news is that the game's announcement comes alongside Game Informer revealing Battleborn to grace the cover of their upcoming issue. Besides giving yet another look at a handful of the characters packed into the genre-defying shooter, the preview trailer shows a brief glimpse of what experience managed to pry Gearbox away from Pandora:

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More information will be released in the coming weeks, but for now, the gameplay seems to be centered on rival Battleborn (the name given to these last warriors of humanity(?)) hunting eachother as is to be expected in any online shooter. But what helps take that framework into the MOBA space is the opposing forces of AI-controlled soldiers. The same basic plan was used in Respawn's Titanfall, but Gearbox's emphasis on looting and customized skillsets promises a more faithful adaptation of MOBA progression and skill trees.

Given the wealth of studios and publishers looking to capitalize on the growing MOBA community, it's no surprise to see yet another major developer attempt to plant their own flag in the genre. However, Battleborn looks to possess a premise that is nothing if not unique, which may be enough to grow interest. Destiny is looking to bring MMOs to home consoles, so why can't Battleborn do the same for another PC powerhouse?

Are you excited to see this new project from Gearbox, or will it need to differentiate itself from similar shooters before you pass judgement? Sound off in the comments.

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Battleborn is currently in development for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

Follow Andrew on Twitter @andrew_dyce.

Source: Game Informer