Borderlands 3 releases in less than a month and Gearbox is showing more and more of the upcoming cooperative multiplayer shooter. In some cases, Gearbox is even showing aspects of Borderlands 3 that are not ready to show. A newly discovered part of the official Borderlands 3 website shows different ways that players can redeem a code, but one option, titled "Redeem a Boost Code," has players speculating.
Here's how the Borderlands VIP system works, in general. Borderlands players are able to create an account on the website and perform actions to earn VIP Points. VIP points can then be redeemed for various Borderlands in-game rewards. The actions include watching trailers, taking surveys, and connecting to Twitch. Users can also earn points by redeeming codes, with codes originating from a variety of sources. These codes can be found in official emails, from content creators, or in various other places online.
Borderlands VIP program users are familiar with the other code types on this page, but the Boost Code is new and unlike the others. For one, no one knows where to get a Boost Code. Second, and perhaps more important, the Boost Code redemption has some fine print that says, "Limit one redemption per user per lifetime."
Launch Codes
One prevalent theory is that a Boost Code will be a VIP code delivered as part of Borderlands 3's launch. The VIP program has been running for some time now and there is a decent-sized selection of rewards. Gearbox could be planning to provide a Boost Code in every box of Borderlands 3, granting an initial wave of VIP points to all players. This cache of points will then grant all players a degree premium customization straight out of the gate.
This theory makes a lot of sense from the perspective of Gearbox. The studio will want new Borderlands 3 players who haven't used the VIP program before to become invested. This could be a great strategy for converting new Borderlands 3 players into using the official website, even if they never ultimately end up using the coins or engaging with the website otherwise.
The one-use-per-lifetime restriction would be in place to prevent using multiple codes to gain huge amounts of VIP Points. Though this seems like it could have been covered with one blanket code for all players and a rule so it couldn't be used more than once.
Scaling Codes
Rather than the Boost Code offering just a single cache of VIP Points, the scaling code accrues points over time. Players could use the code at launch for an initial burst of points. They could also save the code until later to earn an even larger amount of points. That way the code could be saved until a DLC release, so that players could buy any new VIP rewards that have been added.
Given that Gearbox has tagged the Boost Code with a once-per-lifetime restriction, this idea makes a bit more sense than a launch code. After all, Gearbox could have otherwise just provided a single launch code for everyone that couldn't be used again. A scaling code could be saved by users who have already been using the VIP system and have many of the rewards. It would then reward those players further, granting them even more points for saving the code for later.
Contest Codes
Boost Codes could also be Gearbox's option for holding contests or raffles that reward huge amounts of VIP Points. Gearbox could post a code to Twitter granting the first person to use it thousands of points. To prevent a single user from redeeming several of these codes for themselves, Gearbox would have implemented the once-per-lifetime restriction.
The issue with the above possibilities for the Boost Codes is that, technically, they could all be managed using the current Borderlands VIP code system. And that makes Gearbox's plans for the Boost Code redemption part of the website all the more mysterious. Given that the only reward for the code will be VIP points, it can't be too complicated. Nevertheless, the Boost Code option remains there and Borderlands fans are left wondering.
There's also a chance that there isn't really anything unique about the Boost Code. After all, the multiple other categories for code redemption all provide basically the same service.
Borderlands 3 releases September 13 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.