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Gearbox seeks help crafting the next Borderlands entry
Given the massive success of Borderlands 2 and the lesser but still significant success of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, it comes as little surprise that Gearbox is planning another entry in the over-the-top post-apocalyptic shooter franchise. "We are recruiting for next Borderlands. This is the big one," Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford recently tweeted, before offering his business email address to anyone who could be described as an "industry badass." Pitchford outlines no other qualifications, as the studio is seeking myriad people, from writers to art designers to engine programmers. Beyond the help-wanted ad, neither Pitchford nor Gearbox has offered any further information on the next Borderlands game. It will probably feature some iteration of robotic irritant Claptrap and vibrant, color-coded weaponry, but otherwise we're in the dark. [Image: Randy Pitchford/Gearbox]
Rumor: A Borderlands MMO might be in the works
Back in February this year, Randy Pitchford, CEO and president of Gearbox, specifically stated that the developer was not working on Borderlands 3. In fact, the most he'd say on the matter was that the team knew a sequel would have to be massive and impressive. All fairly standard interview stuff. Not too long ago, a Chinese site for publisher Shanda Games was discovered, with what certainly appears to be a silhouette of the franchise's iconic robot Claptrap. This would all seem completely unrelated if not for the fact that Pitchford had stressed both the need for a massive game and the possibility of making the next Borderlands title into something endless, akin to League of Legends. None of this serves as a single smoking gun, but if you look at all the evidence through the right lens, it does start to appear awfully gun-like. Then again, this is Borderlands; everything looks gun-like.
Sega pins Aliens: Colonial Marines marketing mishaps on Gearbox
After Aliens: Colonial Marines publisher Sega moved to settle a class-action lawsuit to the tune of $1.25 million in August for alleged false advertising for the game, it shifted the blame for the game's marketing issues to Gearbox Software, according to court documents obtained by Game Informer. Internal emails from Gearbox and Sega representatives cite examples of the former revealing information about the game without the consent of the publisher. One such email refers to a New York Comic Con panel in October 2012, in which Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford firmly states that a Wii U version of Aliens: Colonial Marines would launch in February 2013 alongside the other versions of the game. Emails within Sega stated that "no-one on the call was aware" of the Wii U version, and that it's "not been picked up so far." Of course, the game missed its Wii U launch window before Sega confirmed in March 2013 that it was no longer in development.
3D Realms withdraws lawsuit against Gearbox
3D Realms has withdrawn its lawsuit against Gearbox. Filed in June, the lawsuit alleged that Gearbox blocked an independent audit to document royalties earned from Duke Nukem Forever. The original Duke Nukem developer sought $2 million in the lawsuit, but has now dropped the case entirely. In a statement to the media, 3D Realms CEO Scott Miller said, "After reviewing evidence regarding our business affairs, and without any money exchanging hands, we have satisfactorily resolved any and all differences that we perceived against Gearbox." Miller also offered "genuine apologies" to Gearbox CEO and President Randy Pitchford "for any damage that our lawsuit may have caused to the relationship."
Homeworld: Shipbreakers drops free-to-play business model
Homeworld: Shipbreakers has abandoned its free-to-play business model in favor of a "proper commercial release," tweeted Gearbox president Randy Pitchford. At PAX, Pitchford announced that Gearbox software would be lending the Homeworld brand to what was then titled Hardware: Shipbreakers. Until that time the game had been in development as an independent production by many of the people who worked on the original Homeworld series, but alongside lending the Homeworld name Gearbox also revealed plans to help fund the game's development. This sudden influx of cash presumably makes relying on a free-to-play business model an unattractive option. Homeworld: Shipbreakers is currently planned to make its PC debut at some point in 2014.
Gearbox confirms two new IPs for next-gen consoles
At PAX Prime this past weekend, Borderlands series developer Gearbox Software revealed that it is working on two new franchises for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. "A lot of people know that there are new consoles coming," Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford explained. "Gearbox is in development on a couple of original things -- new IPs -- that we'll announce later." An archived stream of Pitchford's announcement starts at 5:22:34 here. Last year, Gearbox revealed that it had significantly reworked its in-progress shooter Brothers in Arms: Furious 4, announcing plans to "evolve" the game into a new franchise. It was not clear if the reworked Furious 4 was among the two next-gen games Pitchford teased. Gearbox will provide closed beta access to an unannounced game as part of its upcoming Community Day event.
Borderlands 2 DLC and bumped level cap coming this fall
Borderlands 2 will get a new DLC pack this fall, Gearbox announced at PAX Australia. The Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack 2 will include the Digistruct Peak Challenge map and 11 levels. It also comes with a bumped level cap of 72, all for about $5. According to OXM, studio head Randy Pitchford said "two or three" additional "Headhunter Packs" for Borderlands 2 are also on the way, starting with T.K. Baha's Bloody Harvest, which sees the return of Borderlands character T.K. Baha, if the title didn't indicate as much. None of said DLC is included in the Season Pass, but is expected to launch by Halloween.
More Borderlands 2 DLC on the way, Pitchford says
In a recent episode of the Nerdist podcast, Gearbox head Randy Pitchford said the studio isn't calling it quits on Borderlands 2 DLC. "We are going to do more, we are going to do some other things. I don't have details exactly of it yet cause we're not ready to announce what the other things are," Pitchford said around the one hour, nine-minute mark in the show. Gearbox has "more stuff in the hopper that we're planning and getting pretty excited about. So if you are a Borderlands 2 fan, you don't have to be afraid that that's the end of it." The latest DLC campaign for Borderlands 2, Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep, is the fourth and final component of the Borderlands 2 season pass. It places the original Vault Hunters from Borderlands in a tabletop role-playing session helmed by brash youth Tiny Tina.
Sega and Gearbox targeted in Aliens: Colonial Marines lawsuit
Gearbox Software and Sega have both been named in a class action lawsuit alleging that the two companies knowingly misrepresented Aliens: Colonial Marines in trade show demos. After the game was released to negative reviews, some players and critics claimed the game's trailers and demonstrations didn't match up to the final product. The lawsuit's plaintiff, Damion Perrine, and the law firm of Edelson LLC have decided to take the matter to court for consumers. The suit cites a tweet from Gearbox head Randy Pitchford, who called initial complaints over the delta between demo and final game "understood and fair." The legal action also suggests demos were misleadingly labeled as "actual gameplay," and that Sega embargoed press reviews until the early morning of Colonial Marines' release date, preventing early buyers from discovering the differences. Accordingly, the suit asks for class action damages for anyone who pre-ordered the game or bought it on release day. The next step in a class action suit like this will be for the courts to certify the class. Unless Sega and Gearbox fight for a settlement right away, Edelson will next need to figure out how many players were mislead in the way described in the lawsuit. Once determined, the class will be notified of the suit, and the case can move forward.
Pitchford: Borderlands 2 has '100% chance' of level cap increase this year
Gearbox President Randy Pitchford has been less than excited about raising the level cap on Borderlands 2 in the past, saying that raising the level 50 limit on the title might just "break the game." But as hard as the task will be, Pitchford has confirmed Gearbox will do it, predicting on Twitter a "100% chance" that we'll see a level cap increase this year.He then goes on to admit that he's only "50\50 on unforeseen consequences that some people will rage about." Obviously, by definition, we can't foresee those, but Pitchford says there's no end of possible issues to the game, from skill tree balance to leveled-up enemies to even things like shotgun shell counting. One bug in the game, Pitchford says, applied a shotgun bonus to every single bullet in a shotgun blast rather than just the gun in general."Sometimes we trap ourselves. We get painted into corners on things. It's tricky," Pitchford said in an interview with VentureBeat. "But we're committed to it." So yes, expect the chance to level up past 50 in Borderlands 2 sometime this year.
Hit List Q&A: Randy Pitchford, Gearbox Software President
In the "Hit List" from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, the video game industry's top talents describe their current gaming addictions, their most anticipated releases and more. This week: Gearbox Software President Randy Pitchford. A note from the AIAS:Randy Pitchford is co-founder, owner and President of Gearbox Software. Randy served as Executive Producer and in creative and development capacities in the creation of Gearbox Software's award winning, best-selling original franchises Brothers in Arms and Borderlands. Under Randy's leadership, Gearbox Software has also developed a string of hits with sequels, expansions, and original games for many of the industry's most credible franchises and in 2010 acquired Duke Nukem to add to its stable of properties. Before the launch of Borderlands 2 on September 18, 2012, Gearbox Software games have sold over 30 million units earning more than $1 billion in gross revenues.What many do not know is that prior to game development, Randy was a professional magician. In his forthcoming 2013 D.I.C.E. Summit session titled "Video Games Are Magic," Randy will explore how the lessons of magical performance apply to our industry. Along the way, he'll demonstrate and expose specific techniques, methods and ideas from magic that illustrate how the art of illusion has a lot in common with the art of interactive entertainment and leave his audience with tools that are useful and applicable from the executive level to the design level of our craft.
Gearbox boss on an industry inching toward the 'holodeck'
Despite striking gold, once again, with the Borderlands series, Gearbox isn't sitting back to watch accolades and sales numbers pile up. Having recently released Borderlands 2, the Texas-based team now turns to focus on supporting that game with additional content, and on completing the team's next high-profile project, Aliens: Colonial Marines.During the 2012 New York Comic Con, Gearbox Software President Randy Pitchford was on hand to help promote the narrative sequel to the classic mid-80s film; a game that has finally settled on a firm February 2013 release date for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (with a Wii U version planned later).In keeping with Gearbox's forward-looking plans, Joystiq asked Pitchford what his team wants the next-generation Xbox and PlayStation to include. What hardware does Gearbox need?"Imagine the spectrum of what's possible in the computing world," Pitchford dared us, asking to then pick a sweet spot between price point and computational power. Unlike the response we got from the Frostbite engine crafters at DICE, Pitchford stepped away from naming exact specifications; however, he suggested the next generation would come about from smarter, strategic partnerships across the development community.
Pitchford: Borderlands 2 DLC may skate on the sand a la Star Wars
We expect a stream of quality downloadable content post-launch for Borderlands 2, if DLC for the first game is anything to judge by. Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford teased fans at a panel during Gearbox Software Community Day in Dallas, saying the team is channeling Star Wars: Return of the Jedi for one piece of content."I've always wanted to ride a sail barge and drive a Sand Skiff," Pitchford said. "I've always wanted to do that, and we've got some cool stuff that's along those lines."Borderlands 2 will have four pieces of DLC by June 2013, available for $10 each, or all together for $30 as part of the season pass.
Borderlands 2 bundled with GeForce GTX 660 Ti, Nvidia's cheapest Kepler card yet
Borderlands 2 will accompany Nvidia's latest graphics card, the GeForce GTX 660 Ti, as a PhysX-enabled freebie in the US and Europe. The bundle should be shipping to stores today in multiple SKUs, and the included code will enable a free download of the game when it's released on September 18 (September 21 in Europe). Prices may vary between Nvidia's manufacturing partners, but the GTX 660 Ti is meant to hover around $300 – a hundred bucks below the more powerful GTX 670.The GTX 660 Ti shoots for a sweet(er) spot between affordability and Nvidia's Kepler architecture, which has been praised for its brutish performance and energy efficiency. The company claims the 660 Ti trumps ATi's $350 Radeon HD 7950, and outperforms the GeForce GTX 560 Ti by 41 percent. It runs at a base speed of 915 MHz (boosting up to 980 MHz), carries 2GB of GDDR5 RAM and probably emits a mighty fine whirr.Kepler also makes a case for TXAA (Temporal Approximate Anti-Aliasing), a rendering technique that examines visual output and then attempts to predict and compensate for jagged edges in upcoming frames. According to Nvidia, TXAA is superior when it comes to producing anti-aliasing for scenes in motion. The first game to make use of TXAA is Funcom's new flagship MMO, The Secret World (demonstrated after the break.)Nvidia didn't announce TXAA support for Borderlands 2, but did peg the cel-shaded shooter's maxed-settings performance on the 660 Ti at an average of 78 frames per second, on a high-end rig and a resolution of 1080p. The video above highlights the physics-driven flair added by PhysX, though not nearly as well as the insightful quote from Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford, which we've taken verbatim from the press materials: "you can get some crazy awesome physics simulations."
Randy Pitchford can't believe you haven't copied Borderlands yet, game industry
We can't tell if this is a sign of the times or an indicator of Randy Pitchford's own psyche as it enters the primary stages of acute paranoia. Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox Software, is surprised that Borderlands hasn't been cloned yet, even though "the formula's right there.""I'm actually astonished that we're about to launch a sequel and no one's stole it from us," Pitchford tells Gamasutra. "The formula's right there. No one's stolen it yet. That's weird. We're in an industry where people do nothing but steal from each other."The formula, for those who haven't picked it up yet, is [(first-person + shooter y) x (console) / (PC)], where y = a rotating variation of loot, guns and XP. Even though that super-secret formula is now public, Pitchford isn't inviting people to steal it from Gearbox."Not that I want anyone to steal it, or I'm challenging people to steal it," he says. "When talking about Borderlands 1, it was really confusing, because on one hand we gotta scream from the highest mountain to get attention because it's a new IP. On the other hand, it's like, 'Shit, we don't want to tell people our secret because then they're all gonna copy it because it's so good.'"Ah, we see the root of Pitchford's perspective now. If Gearbox worried people would copy Borderlands because "it's so good," and no one has copied it, Pitchford might take that as an insult. Don't worry, Gearbox – the right people know that Borderlands is a great game, and it's entirely possible that no one at Zynga has played it yet.
Pitchford: Brothers in Arms Furious 4 still exists, 'has evolved'
"The game has evolved, I think people are going to be surprised by what they'll see, and it's still evolving," Gearbox president Randy Pitchford told CVG about Brothers in Arms: Furious 4. "One of the reasons why we're not talking about it now is that it's evolving and we need to make further changes before we can start talking about it."The Ubisoft-published shooter was presumed dead after its E3 2011 reveal was followed up by complete silence – a silence only broken by the news that its trademarks had lapsed. CVG reports that the USPTO rejected the dual trademark application by Ubisoft and Gearbox, and Gearbox is now filing on its own.Of course, evolution is not a quick process, and as a result Furious 4 won't make its original 2012 release window. "I might come around to talk about Furious Four between the releases of Borderlands 2 and Aliens: Colonial Marines," Pitchford said, "but certainly I won't before the release of Borderlands 2." Borderlands 2 is out in September, and Aliens is due in February.
Gearbox wants Borderlands 2 on Vita, requests Sony's help
Gearbox Software president Randy Pitchford is excited about the possibility of Borderlands 2 on Vita, a version able to share characters with the PS3 version. He's not excited enough to make Borderlands 2 for Vita, however.Speaking at the Rezzed conference today, Pitchford asked fans to bug Sony to get behind it. "Perhaps some of you folks can convince Sony to start that," Pitchford said. "We're too busy to develop it ourselves. But I know there are a lot of talented developers who could take our code, our source and our content and perhaps create something like that."Though Borderlands publisher 2K Games would seem like a more likely decision maker for a potential port, we could see Sony potentially being interested in putting such a popular game on its handheld, which could use some popular games.Update: Reader Stewox points out that Gearbox owns the Borderlands IP, and thus is free to talk to, say, Sony instead of its current publisher of choice.
Aliens: Colonial Marines Wii U version overseen by Shoot Many Robots studio
Don't count out that Wii U version of Aliens: Colonial Marines, despite Gearbox pushing its launch to an unknown spot beyond the 360/PS3/PC version's February 2013 date. Gearbox head Randy Pitchford says that Shoot Many Robots studio Demiurge Studios has been overseeing the Wii U version for the past nine months, alongside both Nerve and Timegate.Pitchford couldn't speak to many specifics of the game, but he did extol the Wii U controller. "When I play with the controller, I immediately realize that for the types of games I like to play and make, this is the best controller I've ever had from Nintendo." He also teases one potential use for the WiiPad, saying, "For Aliens: Colonial Marines, it's really exciting to have that screen there because I can do things that are very unique to this universe. For instance, we have a motion tracker in this universe. Now our motion tracker can literally be in our hands and we can see and hear it –and scan the room in 360 degrees, since it's a motion device."Aliens: Colonial Marines launches on February 13, 2013 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. The Wii U version is expected some time beyond that date.
The acid-blooded devil is in the details for Aliens: Colonial Marines
"You can see this pocket on the pants," Brian Burleson, senior producer of Aliens: Colonial Marines says as he points to a promotional image behind him. It shows one of the Colonial Marines standing over a Xenomorph while another alien leaps at him from behind. "When we released this [image], someone said to us, 'No, the pocket is on the front of the cargo pants.' And we were like, 'Seriously?'"That's where a lot of developers might stop caring. It's a licensed product that serious fans will probably snatch up anyway, right? How important is a pocket on a pair of cargo pants? But Gearbox Software said "We're going back in and fixing that."The stakes are pretty high with Colonial Marines, and not just because the series has had passionate fans for decades. This isn't an inconsequential "what if" side-story like the Aliens vs Predator games, nor is it a retelling of any of the films in the franchise. It's an entirely new, canonical entry in the Alien mythology – a true, official sequel to Aliens and Alien 3 -- and the developers are taking that opportunity and running with it.%Gallery-152244%
Gearbox boss says impressive Wii U 'a really nice bridge' to the next generation
Nintendo's Wii U demo reel at E3 last year contained a clip of Aliens: Colonial Marines, but we haven't heard much about the version since then. Speaking with Gearbox President Randy Pitchford, we tried to surgically extract a viable specimen of information out of him, but he refrained from getting too specific."Nintendo still has a lot to announce with their platform, and it's not up to us to go ahead of them," he told Joystiq. "I think it's a great platform and I'm really excited about it, particularly with this game, there's a lot of exciting opportunities like, 'Wow, my motion tracker is there, and I can move it like this!'" he said as he moved his arms side to side. "There's just so much cool stuff."%Gallery-152244%
