Battleborn is Gearbox Software‘s newest project, set for release sometime next year. They’re “assisting in the development of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel” along with 2K Australia, according to an exclusive interview on GameInformer.com, but they want to put Borderlands 3 on the back burner – for now.
Borderlands and Borderlands 2 were such big successes for Gearbox that the gaming community is itching for Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and Borderlands 3 especially. The company wants to show the same creativity that they did the first time when they made Borderlands, according to GameInformer.com. “If you’re gonna bet on the future, you gotta bet on new,” says Gearbox Software President Randy Pitchford.
What can gamers expect from Battleborn? Some of the same elements that were in Borderlands, like the humor, the complex and unique characters, and the smorgasbord of weapons – only different and amplified. According to Pitchford’s Game Informer interview, Battleborn is a first-person shooter, combined with a multi-player co-op, artificial intelligence, and a rockin’ sci-fi plot about ‘the last star’, among other things.
Pitchford goes on to explain how Battleborn’s gameplay concept came from BlizzCon’s Blizzard DotA mod of Starcraft 2, which explains the multiplayer co-op and the AI. There’s a variety of characters that goes more in-depth than Borderlands ever did, which Gearbox is proud of.
Gearbox is confident that the gaming community won’t see Battleborn‘s greatness coming, and that will work to their advantage. Besides, Pitchford wants Gearbox to make more than just Borderlands games.”You are your last product,” says Pitchford.
In the August 2014 issue of Game Informer, a small column titled “Why Not Make Borderlands 3?” (page 27) says:
“Gearbox is by no means ruling out Borderlands 3 for this console generation, but for now the developer’s interest is set squarely on making Battleborn the best it can be.”
Gearbox Software fears that gamers will grow tired of the Borderlands series and that rushing the development of yet another Borderlands game for a next-gen console like the PS4 and the XBox One will ruin its potential as another great game. “How much Borderlands is in us?” Pitchford asked during his interview with Game Informer. That question could be taken as a rhetorical question for Gearbox or as a question to the gaming community in general – or both. Are we, as gamers, ready for Borderlands 3?
