As with the first game, Borderlands 2 allows players to complete a campaign consisting of central quests and optional side-missions as one of four treasure seekers, "Vault Hunters", on the planet Pandora. Key gameplay features from the original game, such as online collaborative campaign gameplay; randomly generated loot, such as weapons and shields; and character-building elements commonly found in role-playing video games are in Borderlands 2.

The game received critical acclaim and was a commercial success. Downloadable content for the game was released, including new characters and storylines. The Game of the Year Edition of the game was released on October 8, 2013 in the U.S. and October 11 internationally, including all the previous downloadable and upgrade packs except for the new campaign.