Towards the end of last year, a Borderlands 3 patch released in December introduced the option for players to skip the game’s introductory cutscene; a minor but frequently-requested change. However, a new discovery from within the game’s unused files indicates that the studio might actually be planning to go further; allowing players to skip the entire introduction on Pandora and start the game already onboard Sanctuary III.
What the Unused Cutscene Suggests About the Borderlands 3 Opening
For veterans of the Borderlands series, the opening of Borderlands 3 was certainly full of nostalgia, but it is also likely to get old fast. After all, it serves as a way to teach new players the game mechanics; mechanics which those veteran players will be very familiar with. In fact, given that many players may now be returning to the campaign with a new character after one or more playthroughs, it makes sense why some might want to be able to skip the introduction. Of course, it does include plenty of the plot too. However, that would be less important to players who have already completed the campaign.
Well, it seems as though Gearbox might have some notion of letting players skip that opening after all. An unused Borderlands 3 cutscene was recently shared on the game’s official subreddit. This cutscene, which is in the game’s internal files, features Marcus as the narrator, just like the opening one. However, he says; “So, you want to skip some story,” before skipping ahead to the Sanctuary III, whereupon he says; “Let’s get to the part where you’ve got a spaceship of your own and a galaxy just waiting to be looted.”
At present, this functionality does not exist in Borderlands 3. It’s unclear whether this is something which will be added in the future, or indeed, when it might arrive. Certainly, its inclusion would make sense for the game’s long-term audience; those players who don’t need to learn the mechanics or play through the start of the story every time they start a new Vault Hunter. Gearbox has yet to comment on this possibility. However, the studio is now back from the winter holidays, and the first patch of 2020 is out. As such, fans should expect new content and changes of some sort to come in the near future.