Home Gaming Games need to start taking bigger risks says Borderlands boss

Games need to start taking bigger risks says Borderlands boss

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Borderlands-3

The first Borderlands game was in no way a guaranteed success when it was first launched. After all, a video game that has you playing as one of four characters with various skills in a pseudo-RPG setting that was filled with more guns than a Texas church must have been a hard sell for investors. But the game was a hit, paving the way for a bigger sequel. But Borderlands 3 is going to be an even bigger gamble for Gearbox apparently, a risk which the developer believes is good for the industry as a whole if more studios follow that train of thought.

“The oldest problem our species has faced is that we can’t realize and manifest everything that we can imagine as quickly as we can imagine it,” Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford explained in an episode of GameTrailers‘ Bonus Round (via Gamespot), stressing the importance of having to take a risk in order to create better games these days.

So the only solution to that problem is to make choices. And to pick one thing and abandon another. And that can be difficult if there’s a part of our minds that loves the thing that must be abandoned and is afraid of the new frontier that should be embraced. But progress demands that we look forward, and the biggest and most exciting things that we’re going to do be doing in interactive entertainment in the future are things that we can’t even conceive of today.

We’ll never get there unless we actually are comfortable taking some risks and trying things we haven’t done before.

Whatever it is that Pitchford and Gearbox have planned for the unannounced Borderlands 3, it’s going to need to be big. But they’re already on the right track. Borderlands has some of the best multiplayer around, and it is essentially the kind of game that Destiny wants to be. Expanding that focus in a larger universe with even more guns? Hell, I’d be down for that kind of game.

Last Updated: February 12, 2015

29 Comments

  1. To think i havent even played Borderlands 1 0_o. Damn Lazygamer.net site has changed. I really miss this place.

    Reply

  2. Hammersteyn

    February 12, 2015 at 09:17

    If they really want to take a risk announce DLC more convoluted than Watchdogs and Evolve combined

    Reply

    • Blood Emperor Trevor

      February 12, 2015 at 09:19

      But they’ve already done pre-order DLC, season pass DLC, extra DLC to the season pass, increase level cap DLC and cosmetic DLC. Some people are never happy 😉

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        February 12, 2015 at 09:19

        LOL

        Reply

  3. Blood Emperor Trevor

    February 12, 2015 at 09:17

    You also need to learn from your risk-taking Randy, like not outsourcing a game you’re not that interested in to concentrate on your own franchise while not providing decent oversight.

    Reply

    • Race War Provisions

      February 12, 2015 at 12:38

      Aliens: Colonial Marines was a sham and was supposed to be more rpg-like. Alas, they put out a nice special edition.

      Reply

  4. WitWolfy

    February 12, 2015 at 09:31

    Alien Colonial Marines say hi…

    Reply

  5. Raptor Rants A Lot:Original #7

    February 12, 2015 at 09:36

    Soooooo, less guns? More guns?

    *GASP*

    More classes!?!?!?!

    I should stop trolling

    Reply

  6. Tosh "Did he just say that?"

    February 12, 2015 at 09:47

    Multiple planets, some exploration maybe? Mass Effect (space section) meets Borderlands.

    They set it up with the ending to BL2, and tested the low gravity and other required mechanics with the Pre Sequel, so it’s the only logical conclusion.

    Reply

    • Blood Emperor Trevor

      February 12, 2015 at 10:14

      Given the way 2 ended, I’d go with multiple planets.

      Reply

  7. Kromas Votes LAG WCMovie Event

    February 12, 2015 at 09:50

    Building something on an existing IP is nowhere near a gamble. Look at how well the Diablo 3 sales where due to the success of Diablo 2 and it was a horrible game that only got fixed with an expansion.

    You wanna take a gamble? Stop making Borderlands 3 and start making a brand new game.

    I felt that the pre-sequal had very little to offer me that Borderland 2 did not already provide.

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      February 12, 2015 at 09:56

      But look at the gap between D3 and D2. People were so starved for Diablo that they bought so many copies it broke the servers. Sure D3 introduced new elements but it was essentially the same as D2. They need to make a new IP yes and after that they should release B3.

      Reply

      • Kromas Votes LAG WCMovie Event

        February 12, 2015 at 09:57

        Not now. It is in danger of becoming just another CoD game with yearly iterations.

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          February 12, 2015 at 10:00

          That would be the worst. I think every sequel should have a three year gap at least.

          Reply

          • Kromas Votes LAG WCMovie Event

            February 12, 2015 at 10:01

            Idd but if you look at it 2 years and 3 borderlands games released. (B2,pre-sequal and Tales (coming soon)) butt still.

          • Tosh "Did he just say that?"

            February 12, 2015 at 10:03

            Well BL3 isn’t near release yet, so I wouldn’t worry too much about that.

            Also, bare in mind that since 2, the other BL games were made by other studios. The BL2 team could have been busy on BL3 all this time, literally, because they didn’t develop TPS. That’s already 3 years dev time.

      • Tosh "Did he just say that?"

        February 12, 2015 at 09:57

        As much as I’m loathe to say it, D3 was a lot more fun than D2. D3 has its fair share of problems, but I’ve enjoyed it much more than I ever did 1 or 2.

        Reply

    • Race War Provisions

      February 12, 2015 at 12:40

      The difference is Blizzard did realize a Diablo game every year or two like Gearbox did. You can’t beat how addictive D3 honestly is right now.

      Reply

  8. Viking Of Science

    February 12, 2015 at 10:19

    Well, didn’t Gearbox register BorderWORLDS a year or so ago? I’m guessing the Scope of the 3rd installment will extend beyond Pandora, and onto other planets…. And that’d be super!

    Reply

  9. Ross Woofels Mason

    February 12, 2015 at 10:34

    Goat simulator took the biggest risk of all =P!

    Reply

  10. Ryanza

    February 12, 2015 at 11:25

    Was Aliens Colonial Marines the big risk?

    Reply

    • Race War Provisions

      February 12, 2015 at 12:43

      The biggest, glitchiest turd sammich to ever invade consoles. They got sued by the original actors for using their likeness and not paying them.

      Reply

    • Cabbit

      February 13, 2015 at 01:16

      Yeah this company and that guy lost all semblance of trust after the terrible Aliens:Colonial Marine. Any “risk” they take I’ll stay very far away from.

      Reply

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