Borderlands players are no strangers to cracking codes and uncovering secrets in the game franchise, but the latest round of community sleuthing has proven to be especially lucrative. Thanks to a seemingly ordinary card given out at the recent PAX West convention, Borderlands players have received what is arguably the best Shift code in existence, and all it took was a solid grasp of binary language.
The card in question (via GamesRadar) featured a D20 die in the center, and the tabletop icon was flanked by an inconspicuous pattern. Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford posted an image of the card on X/Twitter, hinting that it contained a secret clue in its design, and eventually, user @40_BaySt shared their findings online.
Sorry I didn’t have the strength to make the PAX thing today. I definitely did not want to risk causing any harm by showing up. For those that were there, did you keep your dice cards? We hid a secret code in them.. pic.twitter.com/3gE1nGZQ6Z
— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) August 31, 2024
The card contained binary code, and once fully decoded, the message was revealed to be a Shift code that could be used to unlock 50 weapons in several Borderlands games and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. Borderlands 3 players can also use the code to get 10 diamond keys.
I think my wife figured it out. It’s a binary code. Up triangles are 1. Down triangles are O. There are 29 sequences and each sequence is 8 digits. Then you convert the binary to decimal and then to ASCII. Upon doing that you get this…
SXFBT-39953-J33TT-3T333-KSHW6.— Rear Naked Leafs (@40_BaySt) September 1, 2024
The code is SXFBT-39953-J33TT-3T333-KSHW6 in case you’re currently playing Borderlands and want to make use of it.
If you’re unfamiliar with it, Shift keys–not the keyboard inputs–can be used on a golden chest located in the Borderlands games, unlocking powerful weapons, shields, grenades, and character mods. These are scaled to your character level, and overall, the keys can be used to add some of the best loot in the game to your arsenal.
For Borderlands 3 players, the ultra-rare diamond keys can be used to access an entire room of loot, but the catch here is that you can only take one piece of loot from each of the open walls, and there’s a time limit in play as well. This is the “most valuable” Shift key ever given, according to Pitchford.
In other Borderlands news, Borderlands 4 was officially revealed at Gamescom last month. Gearbox hasn’t shared any additional details on the game since then, although it has been hinted that the game will feature an antagonist “far more dangerous” than Handsome Jack and some concept art has shown off one of the new planets that’ll appear in the game. Borderlands 4 is currently scheduled to launch 2025, and it’ll be available for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via both Steam and the Epic Games Store.
