Gearbox Software has had a lot of success since being founded, though the majority of this has been with the Borderlands franchise. While the studio has released unrelated franchises, its name continues to tie almost exclusively to the franchise. A lot of this could perhaps be because of the studio playing it safe and sticking with a proven success. While that’s been helpful for the company, it looks as though it will be taking more risks in the future.
The tease comes courtesy of co-founder Randy Pitchford following the studio’s acquisition by Embracer Group. In a recent interview with VentureBeat, Pitchford noted that the studio had a lot of ideas for new intellectual property. He adds that the acquisition now makes it possible for Gearbox Software to take a risk on some of them.
“We have so many new IP concepts that are in our incubator, that are ready to explode. We could wait for the right publishing partner who’s willing to make a bet, rather than only take a risk on something they know Gearbox has already done before. Those publishers that have taken risks on us for what we want to see next have always been rewarded. But for some reason they can’t be comfortable with that kind of risk. Now we get to take that risk.”
Pitchford also compared the purchase to Epic’s decision to sell the Gears of War IP. Claiming that that was “burning the boats,” he added that it was something that Gearbox Software couldn’t do. As he states:
“We don’t have to do that. We can maximally deliver on the IP we have and pursue new IP as a consequence of this relationship. That’s incredibly exciting for me. I feel like we’re just getting started.”
What types of games Gearbox Software will be developing and releasing in the future remains to be seen.
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