The fantasy MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online (TESO) loses Creative Director Paul Sage to Gearbox, the minds behind Borderlands.
On June 15, Paul Sage ceased working at Zenimax, and since June 19, he has been the Creative Director at Gearbox. This can be gleaned from his Facebook pages. Eurogamer has now discovered this. It is suspected that he might be contributing to Borderlands 3. This would make sense, especially if they decide to move more towards “MMO” there.
One could speculate a lot about what lies behind the switch. Whether he was no longer satisfied at Zenimax, whether TESO was not developing according to his expectations, or so.
Other pages have a significantly more banal explanation for the switch: Paul Sage simply wanted to go back home, back to Texas. Sage is from Austin, Texas. He studied there. Gearbox is located in Plano, Texas. So it fits, even though there are nearly 350 kilometers between Plano and Austin. But they are significantly closer than the 2,500 kilometers between Hunt Valley and Austin. Zenimax is located in Hunt Valley, Maryland.
Sage was, alongside Matt Firor, one of the most prominent figures at The Elder Scrolls Online, especially during the PC phase. He was notably recognized for leaking important information to fan sites outside of “big events” or simply sharing them on reddit.
Update: A representative from Zenimax has commented on this in the forum. Yes, they say, Paul Sage left the team after the console launch of TESO. He is – like the rest of the team – proud of what they have accomplished. Zenimax wishes him good luck with everything he takes on in the future.
Rich Lambert has moved up to the vacant Creative Director position. Until then, he was the Lead Content Designer for TESO and has also worked on Elder Scrolls: Oblivion.
