Borderlands mobile game appears out of thin air as 2K confirms limited-time test

A new Borderlands mobile game has launched out of nowhere on iOS devices with zero fanfare from its developers.

Following a couple of rather mixed releases, Borderlands 4 brought the series back to its best at the end of last year.

Apparently looking to capitalise on that, Borderlands publisher 2K has teamed up with Zynga-owned NaturalMotion to produced an as-yet-untitled free-to-play Borderlands mobile game.

Currently just called 'Borderlands Mobile', the game launched with no prior marketing, be that PR releases, social media posts or even a trailer.

The game appears to take place between the events of Borderlands 3 and 4, and features only one character at the moment, with three others seemingly set to be made available at a later date.

Fans have already noted that the game features plenty of reused assets from other Borderlands titles, but also various popular mechanics such as endgame activities and raids, weapon upgrades, scrapping and more.

The game also features a Battle Pass – it is a free mobile game after all – though it is not clear how much of a role this will play in the final product.

While some fans took the complete lack of news about the game to mean this was an accidental launch, a statement provided to Forbes by a 2K spokesperson denies this.

"We are always exploring ways to introduce Borderlands to new audiences," it reads. "Zynga's NaturalMotion studio is currently conducting a limited-time test for an untitled Borderlands mobile project, with Gearbox providing creative guidance on the franchise's design, history and lore.

"We hope that players enjoy this new Borderlands experience and look forward to their feedback."

The game is currently only available on iOS devices in the US via the App Store, and only has a select few features available, with the rest locked.

This is only a limited-time test, so it's impossible to say when players from other regions or Android users will be able to try the game out for themselves.

Considering the game does not even have an official name, however, we imagine that it will probably be quite a while.

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