Borderlands 2 and The Pre-Sequel are free on the Epic Games Store

(Image credit: Gearbox)

The latest Epic Games Store giveaway is for the Borderlands Handsome Collection. 

The collection is now available for free, and you have until 8am PT / 11am ET / 4pm BST on Thursday, June 4 to claim it. The collection comes with two games: Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, but you only need to claim the singular collection itself. Once you do, both games will appear in your library, and you'll be able to keep them forever.

If Borderlands 3 was your entry point for the series, it's well worth going back to Borderlands 2 to properly meet the second generation of Vault Hunters, Handsome Jack, and other icons like Tiny Tina. You might miss some of the advancements and quality of life improvements made in Borderlands 3, but Borderlands is Borderlands, and the second game holds up remarkably well. The Epic Games Store also has the free HD texture pack for the game, and with that added in, it's not far behind Borderlands 3 graphically.

Then there's Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, which, as its name implies, is in a weird spot canonically. It's sort of a lead-up to the events of Borderlands 2 but it stars a totally separate cast of Vault Hunters and features several unique mechanics, the most prominent being low-gravity environments. It's different enough that it's well worth playing no matter how you got into the series, especially if you really liked the bouncy moon missions in Borderlands 3. 

Borderlands 3 is still getting new content, with Bounty of Blood: A Fistful of Redemption coming next month.

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Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.

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