“We would love to do a demo,” said Gearbox Software’s Mikey Neumann in an interview with ShackNews. “If and when we do one, I don’t know if it’d be pre-launch or post-launch, because…there’s a lot of factors there.”

Though he didn’t really get into specifics, it’s pretty safe to assume that the artistically ambitious title’s looming November release date is a major factor. With Gearbox rushing to put the finishing touches on their post-apocalyptic sandbox shooter, whose once highly realistic graphics underwent an even more highly publicized makeover, there’s not a lot of time leftover. Testing and certification shave off even more.

“We would love to promise a demo, we can’t quite yet, we just want to get the game done.,” he continued, adding that the team with continue to work on Borderlands after release, designing downloadable content to further expand the fledgling franchise. That’s always the hardest thing for developers to do - you never quite know how the time’s going to work out. We’re doing really well, but I can’t promise it.”

I must admit, I will be bummed not to test drive this risky new property before purchase, but props to them at least for not playing the bonus blackmail game. I’d rather have no demo at all than have it be offered as as a pre-order bonus for the very game I’m pre-ordering.
Borderlands