Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is the latest installment in the Borderlands franchise. The game takes place after the Assault on Dragon Keep DLC for Borderlands 2 and features everyone’s favorite 13-year-old demolitionist, Tiny Tina. In a world designed and manipulated by Tiny Tina, Wonderlands sends players through a fantastical realm to shoot down baddies, gather loot, and take on the infamous Dragon Lord.
To get you up to date on this upcoming looter shooter, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know about Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. Details are scarce right now, but we have a little bit of information on the release date, gameplay, multiplayer, and pre-orders.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands release date
Gearbox hasn’t announced a release date for Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands yet. So far, we only have a release window of “early 2022,” or more specifically, during the fourth quarter of Take-Two Interactive’s fiscal year. That means we should see the game between January and March 2022.
All we can do is speculate at this point for the specific date. We expect the game to launch later in the quarter, sometime in March. The first two months of the year are usually a dry season, and once March rolls around, a few releases kick off a string of games that will keep players busy for the rest of the year. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands could kick off the hot season for 2022.
It’s possible that the game will come later in the year, though. None of the Borderlands games have been delayed, but the Borderlands 3 Director’s Cut was delayed by three weeks in early 2021. Given the state of game delays in 2021, Wonderlands could be pushed back, too.
What platforms will Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands be released on?
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is a cross-gen game, releasing simultaneously on the Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and PC. Unlike Borderlands 3, Wonderlands will be available across the Epic Games Store and Steam on PC at launch.
It looks like Tiny Tina is being toned down a bit for the game, too. 2K and Gearbox announced the game has been rated T for Teen by the ESRB, though didn’t clarify what earned the game that rating. In all likelihood, Wonderlands won’t have as much cursing as the main Borderlands games.
Every Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands trailer
Gearbox announced and showed off the first trailer for Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands during E3 2021. The trailer doesn’t have any gameplay, but it shows off the iconic Borderlands cell-shaded art style and the fantastical setting of the game.
The trailer also shows off the game’s star-studded cast. Andy Samberg, Wanda Sykes, Ashly Burch, and Will Arnett play four of the main characters in the game. Samberg voices the “headstrong captain” Valentine; Sykes voices Frette, a robot who’s obsessed with rules; Burch reprises her role as Tiny Tina; and Arnett plays the Dragon Lord, who looks like the main antagonist of the game.
“Between the development talent at Gearbox and the undeniable star power of the cast, we couldn’t be more excited about this game,” said President of 2K David Ismailer.
The game takes place shortly after the Assault on Dragon Keep DLC for Borderlands 2, but Gearbox hasn’t revealed any story details otherwise. If the game builds on Dragon Keep, Wonderlands will take place in the setting of a tabletop role-playing game. A press release hints at this, saying Tiny Tina “makes the rules, changes the world on the fly, and guides players on their journey.”
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands gameplay
The Tiny Tina Wonderlands announcement trailer didn’t show any gameplay, but it sounds like the game is in the same vein as the main Borderlands titles. The press release describes the game as an “epic high fantasy take on the looter shooter genre.” Gearbox Founder Randy Pitchford said that players will be able to use “actual Borderlands guns to fight dragons, skeletons, goblins, and more in an original fantasy world.” He also said it’s a “full-featured AAA video game.”
Although we expect a big focus on guns, that’s not the only way to deal with your foes in Wonderlands. In addition to guns, players will be able to harness magic and melee weapons. It’s not clear right now if these weapons will have the same variety as the guns in the Borderlands games. We expect a dedicated melee weapon that sits alongside your main guns and various different spells that you can equip, though Gearbox hasn’t confirmed anything yet.
For the first time in the Borderlands franchise, players can customize their own character. The game will allow players to create and customize their own “multiclass heroes,” suggesting that you can choose between various upgrade paths and abilities. The main Borderlands games feature a class-specific upgrade path, but it sounds like things are a little more fluid in Wonderlands. You’ll be able to define your class as you unlock more abilities.
Co-op multiplayer mayhem in Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is “full standalone experience with a rich, story-driven co-op campaign for up to four players.” Given how similar the game sounds to Borderlands, you’ll likely be able to take on the experience solo or with a group of friends. Hopefully, the game will feature the instanced loot system introduced in Borderlands 3, which gives each player their own loot respective to their level.
Borderlands co-op thrives with different character classes, so it’s unclear how Wonderlands‘ multiclass approach will play out in co-op. Outside of co-op, we don’t expect a PvP mode or anything similar, though it sounds like players will be able to team up to tackle endgame content after the main story wraps.
Will Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands have DLC?
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands will have “repeatable end-game content,” which we imagine to be supported through DLC. The Borderlands franchise has a long history of DLC, and Wonderlands likely won’t change that. Borderlands 2 received five DLC campaigns, the last one of which released seven years after the main game, and numerous other DLC packs. Borderlands 3 is still being supported now, two years after launch.
As a Borderlands spin-off, Wonderlands may not receive as much post-launch support. However, the game is described as a full-featured AAA release, so we expect at least a few pieces of DLC to come out in the years after launch.
When will Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands pre-orders go live?
Gearbox hasn’t announced any pre-order information for Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands yet. Keeping in line with previous Borderlands releases, we expect multiple versions of the game with exclusive content and a season pass. Borderlands 3 received a collector’s edition featuring a loot chest replica, custom lithographs, and several character models, and we could see something similar to Wonderlands.
For when pre-orders will go live, we expect to see them in the latter half of 2021. Gearbox will likely release a gameplay trailer or a deep dive into mechanics later this year, which could line up with a pre-order start date.
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