About the shooter Borderlands 3 has been rumored for years, but not publicly discussed. Now Gearbox explains why they introduced Borderlands 3 so late.
Who’s speaking? Producer Chris Brock speaks with the site PCGamesN about Borderlands 3.
This was the situation: For years, Borderlands 3 was not officially announced. Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford made numerous hints that they were working on Borderlands 3, but it was never officially announced:
- By 2017, it was clear that Gearbox was working on a Borderlands 3 – at that time, a tech demo was even released
Borderlands 3 appeared in Take-Two’s financial reports only as “unannounced game of one of our major franchises”.
Fans speculated multiple times in 2018 that at the next big fair, Borderlands 3 would be announced, only to be disappointed time and time again.
When Borderlands 3 was finally announced in March 2019, it was 4 years after the release of “Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel” and about half a year before release.
Announcing a game three years in advance brings nothing
This is why the announcement came so late: Brock says:
“It doesn’t feel like anything great can happen when you say: In three years we will have a game.
People can be excited, but then you disappoint them by telling them how long it still is. And if you don’t say anything for too long, it means: “Cool, so this is vaporware, we don’t believe it exists at all.”
At Gearbox, they didn’t want to show up until they were really ready.
Working until 2 days before release – and then continuing
This is what Gearbox says about the changes in the market: The way games are developed has changed, according to Brock:
“In the past, a game reached gold status and you were done. That’s no longer the case. Today, it’s like this: When a game reaches gold status, it goes into production, but it wouldn’t be a modern game without a day-one patch, so you work on the version as long as possible because everything is digital.”
When a game like Borderlands 3 comes out on September 13, you can work on it until the 11th.
And after that, it’s already about developing the content for the time after launch. That’s the expectation today.
Today, you’re actually never done with a game.
