After some speculation about whether or not Borderlands 3 would be released in September later this year after a leaked video was deleted off the official Borderlands Twitter, it's now been confirmed that the Borderlands 3 release date is going to be September 13. On top of that, the rumors about the game being an Epic Store exclusive have since been verified.

There was a leak on April Fool's Day which saw the Borderlands Twitter account upload and then subsequently delete some tweets which suggested that the Borderlands 3 release date would be September 13 and that the game would be an Epic Store exclusive. While the latter seemed a bit far-fetched at the time, it looks like almost anything is possible in the world of video game releases.

Related: Borderlands 3 Release Date May Have Leaked Already, Coming To Epic Store?

Borderlands 3 release date has been confirmed in a YouTube video that was released on the official Borderlands channel. The trailer takes a much closer look at the characters that were already teased during the initial reveal of the game at Gearbox's PAX East presentation and shows off the wide variety of skills that each one of them can bring to the battlefield. From what looks like a more involved pet class to a twist on the classic Siren formula, the playable characters appear to be packing a whole lot of heat. The trailer also shows off a multitude of beautifully rendered environments, including a rather slick-looking cityscape that looks miles away from the usual dust and dirt of the Pandora that fans know and love. It's easy to miss the Epic Store exclusive announcement though; that's tucked away at the very end of the trailer in the form of the store's logo.

Now that the Borderlands 3 release date has been confirmed, and it's also been confirmed as an Epic Games Store exclusive, it looks like the leaks from a few days ago were indeed accurate and not an April Fool's prank. The fact that such a major title is going to be an Epic Store exclusive is likely going to have some on-flow effects for the folks at Steam. Ever since Valve decided to stop regulating their store and to take a more hands-off approach in general, there's been a steady stream of consumer issues ranging from rampant review bombing of titles to fielding games where sexual assault is a mechanic. In light of this Borderlands 3 release announcement, Steam appears to be losing some of its monopoly on the PC market to the Epic Games store, it remains to be seen whether it can be incentivized to make some changes.

September 13 can't come soon enough for Borderlands fans, and there's no doubt that we're probably going to see more of the characters and their various quirks in the lead-up to the game's release. With some fan-favorite characters from games like Tales from the Borderlands looking to make an appearance, there's a lot of material that Gearbox can use to build hype for Borderlands 3 and we can barely wait.

More: Borderlands Goes Tabletop With Tiny Tina's Robot Tea Party

Source: Borderlands/YouTube