The cheek! CEO Pitchford admits that thanks to their persistence Zer0 now brings ”some really great gameplay” to the table. He may be the boss but his teams readily ‘out vote’ him.
”When I play Borderlands 2, it makes Borderlands 1 feel like I’m in the Stone Age, frankly,” said Randy Pitchford in an interview with Player Attack. The sequel is almost here.
The Gearbox CEO added there were times when creative director Paul Hellquist ”just put his heart and soul into things that only worked because he cared so much. There were other risks he wanted to take that I didn’t think were going to work… he proved me wrong! - they not only worked, but worked brilliantly.”
One of these creative risks involved the new character Zer0 and his melee abilities. Hellquist and lead designer Jonathan Hemingway had a few ideas rattling around on how to approach his gameplay, but Pitchford wasn’t all that comfortable with the direction. They went ahead anyway and ”knocked it out of the park” for Zer0.
”The entire Bloodshed skill tree for the assassin is thanks to them ignoring what my experience would have informed would have been a risk, and ploughing away anyway and forcing it through and making some really great gameplay as a result,” revealed Pitchford, who was against the melee focused skill tree.
The Gearbox secret, as it were, is similar to what Valve employs where rigid hierarchy is frowned upon. Pitchford explains that it’s treating each other as peers that gets the job done while staying creative and objective.
”These guys are able to say, “I hear your point, and I understand what you’re bringing to the table Randy, but I really think I can pull this off. I want to try it because I’ve thought this through myself, and I’m looking at it a little more closely than you are, and I’m looking at some details that you’re not seeing.””
The studio doesn’t have to endure management ‘suits’: ”We became game makers before there was any money in this industry,” explained Randy ‘not a suit’ Pitchford. ”Our reason? We were genetically built to try and create entertainment, to try and create joy and happiness for other people, and that’s what drives us.”
Check out the full interview between Randy Pitchford and Player Attack. Borderlands 2 releases on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC September 18th in the US, 21st in EU.
