A Borderlands 4 dataminer has found evidence to suggest that one of the most hated characters from Borderlands 3 was cut and replaced relatively late in development.
Warning! Spoilers for Borderlands 3 and 3 follow:
Borderlands modder and dataminer EpicNNG took to social media to confidently proclaim that Borderlands 3 NPC Ava was cut from Borderlands 4, based on their discovery of files related to her in the game, and replaced by the more popular Borderlands 3 playable character Amara. “This means yes, she was originally going to team up with Zane to help save Lilith,” EpicNNG said.
“She was also going to be accompanied by Hermes, and be hanging out around Sanctuary 3 where it crash landed,” EpicNNG continued. “There are also (unintentional?) hints to this being the case in the game, such as Amara’s abilities being very closely similar to Ava’s in 3.
“It would appear everything aside from references has been completely scrubbed including audio files, models and more.
“Maybe she’ll return in a DLC? Perhaps not. From what I know, this decision is final, at least for the first content year of BL4.”
Alright I guess we’re gonna talk about it:
AVA WAS CUT FROM BORDERLANDS 4
There are numerous files related to her in the game, more specifically outlining that she was completely replaced by Amara late in development. This means yes, she was originally going to team up with… https://t.co/QF8ESnQp0p pic.twitter.com/tBoVNJ8hpq
— EpicNNG (@EpicNNG) October 6, 2025
This is notable because the young Siren, Ava became one of the most divisive characters in the Borderlands series upon her debut with 2019’s Borderlands 3.
“Ava was a side character from Borderlands 3 who is the subject of a lot of scorn for being a very forced inclusion as young, scrappy new hero for the franchise, directly causing the death of Maya (beloved character from 2), and just being annoying in general,” explained redditor Gorotheninja. “Whenever you hear criticisms of Borderlands 3’s story, Ava is usually one of the key points cited.”
“For me I don’t necessarily hate the character, I hate how she gets pretty much no actual development,” redditor ArmaMalum said in a thread debating the discourse around the character. “She has a great base, angsty kid, simple but tough early life, makes mistakes early in the game. But there’s no moment that says ‘she’s learning.’ She just kind of 180s from I’m angry at the world for my own mistakes!! to wow look at Lilith go, [some sage saying]. It would’ve been nice to have her have some kind of reflection during the fight reigniting the vaults with Tychon or even after. It’s possible I missed a single voiceline somewhere but in general her change in demeanor is just jarring as hell.”
“Ava got Maya killed by being there when she was told not to go,” commented zeal3000. “Maya wanted to run and Ava believed she could take them and put Maya in a situation where she had to put herself in danger to save Ava. So it was Ava’s fault and then to add more salt to the wound she blames Lilith for it.
“The entire scene has the same review from me as the final season of Game of Thrones. I don’t mind what they did in terms of story telling. It was the how they did it with lazy writing and rushed points that bothers me.”
Borderlands 4: All Vault Hunter Skill Trees Ranked
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Publisher 2K Games and developer Gearbox declined to comment when contacted by IGN, but EpicNNG believes that Ava being in the Borderlands 4 files was an “intentional blunder,” suggesting whoever left the files in did it on purpose.
“This game is airtight on datamining,” they continued. “Nothing pre-or post release is in the files as of now. More credibility to this being intentional left in by a dev.”
Fans reacted positively to the alleged change, praising Gearbox for making the right decision. “Regardless of if this was late or early in development it was the right decision,” said Agent-Vermont. “Amara and Zane have great chemistry together and it’s always good to see previous Vault Hunters return and be badass.”
Video game development is a messy business, of course, particularly with big budget, AAA games like Borderlands 4. The developers will have a long list of cuts and changes — some incidental, some significant — under their belts. Perhaps the decision to cut Ava was in response to a realization that fans might not have responded well to her inclusion. Or perhaps there was another reason — or multiple reasons — for making the change.
It’s worth noting that outspoken Gearbox development chief Randy Pitchford asked his Twitter followers what they thought of Ava in September 2024, just a year before Borderlands 4 came out. Most of the responses were negative, with some even pleading with Pitchford not to include her in Borderlands 4. Did this social media response have something to do with the decision?
Meanwhile, Gearbox continues to update Borderlands 4 with performance improvements and balance changes. A new Vault Hunter, C4SH, is due out next year alongside plenty more content.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
