This seriously ill player will be able to make his dream come true: the creator of this saga wants to do everything possible so that he can play the next game before everyone else

Game news This seriously ill player will be able to make his dream come true: the creator of this saga wants to do everything possible so that he can play the next game before everyone else

A story that touched the community

On the Reddit dedicated to the Borderlands franchise, still as active after years and relaunched even more after the announcement of Borderlands 4, a fan named Caleb McApine caused a stir through a post, entitled “I I don’t know if that’s possible.” In it, he describes his situation.

My name is Caleb McAlpine, I am 37 years old and in August I was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal rectal cancer. It started in my rectum but spread throughout my liver. I was given 7 to 12 months and even though chemotherapy slows the progression of the cancer, I have less than two years to live.

I’m a die hard Borderlands fan and I don’t know if I’ll still be around for Borderlands 4. Does anyone know how to contact Gearbox to see if there is a way to play the game ahead -first?

The chance of that happening is slim, but I thought I’d give it a try.

Thanks for your help.

The post was met with some pretty staggering support. More than nineteen thousand upvotes, 2.2 million views, hundreds of supportive comments and above all, real helping hands from community members who went out of their way to get the message straight to Gearboxthe development studio. And it worked.

His wish soon granted

Randy Pitchford, head of Gearbox, did eventually get wind of the story. “Caleb and I are currently talking via email and we are going to do everything we can to make this happen”he declared on X. Caleb should therefore be able to play Borderlands 4 and obviously, the story is pretty cool and touching despite the difficult context.

Note also that this is not the first time that the studio has acted in this way: in 2019, a fan named Trevor Eastman was entitled to the same preferential treatment for Borderlands 3, while he was also battling cancer. In Borderlands 2, Gearbox included a character named Michael Mamaril: when you spoke to him in Sanctuary, you unlocked the trophy/achievement “Tribute to a Vault Hunter” in reference to the real Michael Mamaril, a player and die-hard fan from the first part of the saga, sadly died of cancer at the age of 22.