Alright, Vault Hunters, strap in because the Borderlands universe is about to get a whole lot more chaotic! Forget purple and ditch your Eridium, because Borderlands 4 is all about that ORANGE! That’s right, Randy Pitchford himself has dropped a massive hint about a new, insanely powerful orange element called Ordenite, and the theories are already exploding faster than a Torgue grenade. So strap yourselves in as we are going beyond the limits of Eridium!
Table of contents
Key Takeaways
- Ordenite is a powerful sister element to Eridium.
- Ordenite isn’t used as a currency in Borderlands 4.
- Devs mention Ordenite lets you blow up stuff
- Ordenite is significant to the Borderlands lore
The Discovery of Ordenite
Gearbox Software President Randy Pitchford quickly pointed out on social media that the Vault from the TGA Trailer has an Orange glow instead of Purple. I also noticed this detail and therefore made a comparison image, which Randy quickly reposted.
A few weeks later, the community was analyzing and speculating about the Borderlands 4 release date trailer, and we noticed these orange Armor plates dropping from enemies, to which Randy responded:
You think purple is powerful? You should try orange. Eridium is cool, but have you fucked with Ordenite?
Randy Pitchford
This led to a bunch more speculation from the community, such as: Is Ordenite used to boost your character, is it an endgame currency, or does it give Siren-like powers?
Developers react to Ordenite theories
Gearbox Developers provide some clarity to Ordenite during their PAX East 2025 Panel (39:39). April Johnson, Associate Narrative Director, says that Ordenite is a sister element to Eridium, and it actually has the opposite effect to Eridium.
We know that Eridium can supercharge Sirens, would this mean that Ordenite weakens them? This would play into the Timekeeper trying to maintain order. Randy Pitchford added that Ordenite was a cute derivative of The Order.
April Johnson also stated that Ordenite won’t be used as a currency in Borderlands 4, as many of us theorists thought it could replace Eridium as the rare currency or even act as an end-game currency like Seraph Crystals, but that’s seemingly not the case.
Further community questions about Ordenite have resulted in them saying, “Ordenite can blow stuff up”.
Ordenite bigger than the Eridian!
Randy Pitchford teased during the PAX East panel that Ordenite is part of a bigger puzzle, bigger than the Eridian, and they are just about to pull off the layers of that union.
This could have massive implications for the Borderlands lore and open up the Borderlands universe as we know it.
While not everyone liked the main Borderlands 3 story, Gearbox Software did start setting up elements that would push the story forward. Setting up the Siren Lore, introducing Nyriad, telling the story of the Eridians, and casually namedropping Borderlands 4’s main antagonist, the Timekeeper.
I have a feeling that Borderlands 1 just set up a universe, and Borderlands 2 and the Pre-Sequel are riffing on that and adding some depth to it, but I think that Gearbox Software really started laying the foundations and direction for the future with Borderlands 3 and having a plan for multiple games.
When GBX started working on Borderlands 3, they also created a story group and the “Borderlands bible”. This was done under the leadership of former Battleborn Creative Director, Randy Varnell, who later became President of GBX IP, and now acts as the Chief Creative Officer at GBX, as IP now presumably falls under the 2K Brand.
So I’m curious to discover where they are taking the franchise.
