For Borderlands 4, Gearbox wanted to work hard to create a much larger, seamless world, and that was what prompted the development team to decide to give up on the previous mini-map.

At the Pax East 2025 Game Show, Randy Pitchford, founder and president of Gearbox, explained:

"This is the largest universe we have created so far, and it's seamless, without loading time. Anything you see on the screen, even a mile away, you can get to it. We've created a very large world. You can focus on activities in local areas, but a lot of the things you want to do or goals are far away, and local maps aren't suitable for navigating goals and opportunities that exist simultaneously, and maybe miles apart. The compass is very helpful in this regard."

Another reason Gearbox makes this choice is that Borderlands 4 will focus more on verticality than the previous work.Pitchford added:

"The team also wants to push the boundaries in design and environment. They are no longer limited to a single plane, but incorporate a lot of verticality. The verticality of Borderlands 4 will be far more than any Borderlands game before. In this multi-level environment, a two-dimensional overview map can be very confusing. The compass with up and down arrows will allow you to better perceive the spatial orientation, and we want players to focus on the game itself, not the map. So we have invested a lot of effort to develop this compass system.

You can still use the big map, which opens with just a click, and we also add more cool features to the big map than before.We even have an AI-powered navigation system that displays GPS routes on the large map and tells you how to go.In addition, there is a partner in the game called Echobot, which has some auxiliary navigation functions.”

It is worth mentioning that Diablo 4 has also introduced vertical designs in the series of world maps for the first time, but for a brush game, this design is somewhat unfavorable to the feeling of rushing and adding extravagance.