Anthony Burch, the lead writer behind Borderlands 2, announced his departure from Gearbox Friday via Twitter.
Burch will be moving to Los Angeles to work on a new Hulu original series by RocketJump, the people behind the popular show Video Game High School.
The series, which does not yet have a name, is a long-form comedy co-produced by RocketJump and Lionsgate which will chronicle the filmmaking behind RocketJump’s newest short with the all eight episodes being exclusively released on Hulu.
Besides being the source of laughs in Borderlands 2, Burch also brought a very interesting perspective to Gearbox.
Why Burch Will Be Missed
Burch brings an interesting and unique perspective when it comes to diversity in gaming that is uncommon in the industry.
In 2013, Burch published an article on Gearbox’s blog “Inside the Box” in which he talked about inclusiveness in gaming.
In the article, Burch mentions how a comment by Mattie Brice inspired him to make Borderlands 2 as inclusive as possible:
I wanted to clearly state the following: you are welcome here. Regardless of your race, gender, religion or sexual orientation, I personally want Gearbox to be an open and welcoming place to you. I can only speak for myself, of course – I’m just a jerkbag writer who’s been in the industry for less than five years – but I believe that you can see evidence of attempts at inclusivity throughout Borderlands 2.
Check out the article when you have the chance, it’s an interesting piece and shows the inner workings of Burch’s thought processes and perspectives when it comes to writing and storytelling that contributes to his popularity among gamers.
One particular example is a player who expressed her thanks for the inclusion of Karima, an NPC who suffered from a stutter:
In a game where bat shit craziness is the norm – the writers injected a very subtle bit of humanity. For whatever reason, this really struck me. Thank you for taking the high road here. You skipped over cheap laughs here and in so doing made a big impact. Thank you.
What Burch is best known for, however, is his sense of humor.
Even with a new position in the works, Burch still maintains his light-hearted approach to not only his role in the new project, but the possibility of coming back to Gearbox.
Also there’s a not insignificant chance I’ll fall on my face and be back at Gearbox in six months sooo don’t be surprised if that happens
— Anthony Burch (@reverendanthony) January 30, 2015
