something even he doesn’t expect from a franchise this young. “It’s one of these interesting things that happen that you don’t get when you’re an underdog and I’m not used to being in that world. “I’m used to always being an underdog and I still feel like we are. I still feel like we’re heading down that Death Star trench doing the best we can fighting off the Empire.”
LANDS OF HOPE AND GLORY In this case, the Empire is an armada of best-selling behemoths: Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Halo. But Pitchford – always ready with a food analogy (see ‘Food for thought’ ) – is confident that Borderlandswill once again win over gamers with its unique flavour. “Every restaurant serves vanilla ice cream but if you eat vanilla ice cream a lot, you beg for a bowl of rocky road. Let’s say Call of Duty is vanilla and JR [EA CEO John Riccitiello] is trying to have his own vanilla brand that sells more. And I get why he’s doing that. “But I’m not a suit. I make stuff. As a creator I want to be involved in things that wouldn’t have existed but for us. With Borderlands,there’s no doubt that that’s true.”
There’s a lot of hope to keep the series going. My passion for this brand is crazy.
“ Randy Pitchford, Gearbox And gamers are very hungry for
more Borderlands– so much so that retailers’ allocation of the Ultimate Loot Chest Edition has already been gobbled up. That 2K Games has invested in such a lavish SKU – priced at a whopping £100 – shows how eager the publisher is to feed that fanbase.
But what plans does Gearbox have for growing this community? “If Borderlands 2goes the way it looks like it’s going to, there’s a lot of hope to keep the series going,” says Pitchford. “Right now, we’re solely focused on delivering Borderlands 2, making it everything we want it to be, and fulfilling the customers’ wishes for it.
“We’re having a lot of fun and my passion for this brand is crazy. There’s a tremendous amount of momentum throughout the team so you’d be silly not to bet on is DLC.” Pitchford doesn’t know what lies
beyond Borderlands 2,but he is keeping a closer eye on new platforms. “I would love to see a Vita version
of Borderlands 2. I’d love it if I could play on my PS3, and then keep developing my character on my Vita. “We don’t have the time to make that but I think somebody should absolutely step in. The hardware on the Vita is really cool and needs some killer games and I think Borderlandscould be one of those.” And that’s the true challenge for Borderlands: to become that must- have title, not just on Vita but on all platforms.
The original has already won over six million gamers –a figure not to be sniffed at. The sequel is getting even more support from 2K Games, with a massive marketing campaign in the works, a special edition that has already sold out, and even a bus to Gamescom.
Another few million sales – not an unachievable goal – and Borderlands could be forever established as proof that great new ideas work. No matter when you launch them.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
The ever outspoken Randy Pitchford has often drawn from the culinary world to get his point across. During our interview, we dished up some of his more memorable metaphors of recent times and asked him where he stands today:
You once said: “I’m just going to keep calling it the NGP. Vita sounds like a drink you’d buy at a hippy bar.” Has the name grown on you yet? “The reality of all names is they get replaced by what marketing does to rebrand the idea behind them. Now it is the name and I’m going to play ball – it’s going to confuse people more if I actually do call it NGP – but I’m still not sure Vita was the best choice they could have picked. Maybe it worked better in Europe. My simple American mind can’t help but think of vitamins.”
Last June, you said: “With sales data it seems that customers loved Duke [Nukem Forever] – I guess sometimes we prefer greasy hamburgers to caviar.” So which one is Borderlands 2? “Are those the only two choices? You know what it is, it’s pasta primavera. I think there’s a lot more than two points in the spectrum of food and that was the point of that statement. For example, The Hangover 2came out around the same time as Duke. It got 35 per cent on Rotten Tomatoesbut it had the largest Box Office of the year. I loved it. It was fricking hilarious. It deserved to exist. I think, for a lot of people, Dukeis the same way.”