Gearbox CEO "terrified" of Borderlands release

TVGB: "Releasing something fresh and new is always risky, but especially so during the lead up to the holiday season which is when established brands tend to take up a lot of consumer attention. Add to that an economy that's not in the best shape and anything new and unproven has a few reasons to worry. Gearbox's CEO Randy Pitchford takes that a step further and admits he is "totally terrified" over the upcoming late-October release of their cel-shaded beauty Borderlands."

[xztence]

of Modern Warfare 2 I assume... but this is a good move.
devs should stop chickening out and have some more faith in their games.
Take Sony's first party for instance, almost no delays whatsoever even though there might be low sales, but you gotta admire the faith they have in making a quality product which doesnt need delaying.

Uncharted 2, Ratchet, Eyepet, Mag.

All 2009.

[FamilyGuy]

He should be, this fall-->year end looks phenomenal and the games are definitely going to be cannibalizing each other. In this economy it's a pretty dangerous move for a knew IP but there's plenty of anticipation behind this game and it's multi so they shouldn't do too bad on trying to make a worthwhile profit.

[Syronicus]

I was thoroughly convinced that I must own the game. It looks phenomenal and I look forward to greatly.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

They shouldn't be to worried about Modern Warfare 2, gamers don't need to sell a kidney to the black market to play Borderlands. In this time during a global rescission gamers just might find a new home in Borderlands and more budget friendly games.

[LumpsRGood]

I understand that they may be scared to go up against the major players during the holiday season, but if it's good enough there shouldn't be that much of a worry. Sure MW2 is going to sell, but there are actually people who will be looking for something else. *gasp!*

At least you gotta appreciate his honesty.

[JBaby343]

But if your game is good, you'll be alright.

[Mo0eY]

Not true - Okami, Ico, Killer 7, Eternal Darkness, and Psychonauts all come to mind.

Another recent that comes to mind is Madworld. It received decent ratings (7-8s), and it sold like 30,000 in its first week. That's horrendous.

[Captain Tuttle]

Being a shooter gives this game some positive momentum right out of the gate though, at least in the US. This could be the sleeper hit of the year (although once MW2 comes out it'll get crushed).

[kaveti6616]

The only reason they should be terrified is if their game sucks. If it's a great game and scores 90 or above on metacritic, I will surely try and get it before Modern Warfare 2 or any of those superhyped games. But if the game sucks, then yeah, be worried friendo.

[Syronicus]

The game does not have to suck for him to be worried. Look at games like ICO and MadWorld. Both are good, even great games but both sold horribly. Both received good scores from Meta and yet both sold horribly. The reason this guy is afraid is because new IP's tend to get lost in the shuffle despite being good or bad. With this being a new IP and coming out at a time when a few other well known titles are hitting store shelves, there is a good reason for him to be afraid and it may not be about the quality of his game at all.

[kaveti6616]

Madworld - Nintendo Wii = who the hell makes a mature game on a console designed to attract the casual audience.

ICO - Playstation 2 = Sony's install base is so large that niche games will never sell well on it, and Sony doesn't advertise their games very well.

Borderlands - a multiplat game which has seen a decent amount of coverage and purports to offer a large amount of variety and co-op RPG play. The only way this game won't sell well is if A.) from this point on it won't be advertised at all and never marketed or B.) It's going to suck.

[ZombieAutopsy]

Since i havent played the game i cant really judge it but this holiday im already gonna be buying at least 4 or 5 shooters (some a little older Kz2, R2)so i doubt id go but the game, ill prolly give it a rent to see what its all about but i know i wont be able to afford it with the rest of the games im buying. I can see how he would be terrified though Mw2 is prolly gonna be what most people that can only afford to spend money on a game every few months are going to buy. Then you have Halo:ODST coming out proly around a month before so their goes 75% of your X360 people that will be too occupied with that game to play anything else. I will admit though i like the fact that this holiday has many good games coming out for both consoles(no i dont consider the Wii a console) now if only i could afford them all.

[DelbertGrady]

It looks stunning. Can't wait!

[-MD-]

I agree this is taking top priority on my must buy list.

[Digital Commando]

Since so many games got pushed into 2010, more people can just buy this. If it's a great game..................

[BlazeXXL]

Yeah, I know, weird... lol. But the thing is, I bought the first Modern Warfare and I didn't really enjoy it. Modern Warfare 2 looks to be almost the same, so I'm skipping it.

Borderlands has been on my list ever since the first trailer. And the fact that it became cell-shaded only made me happier. I love unique games, games that try something risky.

[mistajeff]

Yeah dude, I've been looking forward to Borderlands since it was first announced. For some reason Fallout 3 left me craving a weapon-customization system, and this one looks AWESOME. I'll play COD6, but I'm not gonna buy it, I'm not a fan of online multi so I'll play through the campaign once like I did with 4 and 5 and that'll be it. But I'm definitely looking forward to some co-op Borderlands, and thank GOD they have split-screen, that's a HUGE win.

[DARK WITNESS]

ya, i am with you guys. i will be buying this instead.

not buying Cod6 because of Activisions pricing. I thin cod6 will be awesome, i would love to have played it right out day one, but i will wait a few weeks and maybe pick it up pre-owned so none of my cash goes into their pockets. i will be telling all my friends to get this instead as well.

[Xi]

I'll be avoiding cod:mw2 for 3 reasons.
1. it's activision
2. I thought the original was boring except for the sniper mission.
3. the online was heavily flawed(way too much camping nade spam) & not enticing enough to pull me away from tf2 and halo3. I also found the online to be way to easy to rack-up points with minimal effort.

borderlands looks unique, interesting and fun, plus it's coming from a developers who's worked with both valve and bungie so we know there's quality there. To me this is the first game that seems to get the Role Playing Shooter formula down to a 50-50 split unlike both ME which was about 65-35 and fallout which was around 70-30.

[aldesko]

Yeah, Gearbox is a pretty underrated dev team. I usually hate the actual gameplay in FPSRPGs like Bioshock and Fallout, but it looks like Gearbox nailed it.

[nycredude]

I'm in the same boat. I might skip MW2 unless the experience it extraordinary! I mean I lvoed MW1 but it's just too much of the same. Not to mention I am not too into the mp, the sp being 6 to 8 hours is really a negative! I might pick it up use later on the cheap, when it would be worth it for me. Uncharted 2, Demon's Souls, and possibly Borderlands for me if it turns out good.

Maybe eyepet since I have the eye already and my wife likes that kind of stuff.

[mistajeff]

Awww, it's okay Randy, I'll buy your game

[1ikedamaster]

I'll buy it too...well, now that Splinter Cell Conviction ain't dropping this year.

Mods: You see me? Hi hater.

[Captain Tuttle]

I was skeptical about this game but the stuff I've seen in the last couple of weeks has convinced me that it's a day 1 purchase. I hope for Gearbox's sake it does reasonably well. The preview in Eurogamer was the final push I needed.

[green]

You got my support Gearbox.

[DARK WITNESS]

well he gets my support.

I can see where he is coming from, but he could actually be in a good position in a way.

there have already been quite a few high profile games that have been pushed back giving it more space which has given me more reason to want to pick this up.

secondly, everyone is running from cod6, if they all run and decide to come out next year, well... next year will then be too crowded. plus you then have the games like gt5 and god of war, alen wake etc.

third, while Cod6 does look amazing and its a game i was looking forward very much, because of the price i am not getting it. and i know many of my friends who are not getting it, so having a game like this around just makes it easier.

[San Frandisco]

yeah the game looks pretty good but havnt seen hardly ANY press about it or media hype.... im still very interested and will most likely buy this.

[kewlkat007]

.....

[SuPa-MaRiO]

I suck at battling people so co-op is more better for me cuz i dont get 2 play games cuz i work alot so i cant get better like games like call of duty but co-op is like we can play together and we can all win instead of me losing all the time

[Double Toasted]

Red Steel 2 also, I'm digging the cel-shadiness,HA!

[A LIVING LEGEND]

Well Gearbox,let us fight this fear together,I will be making a small donation of 59.99 in an effort to combat fear.Rather to combat boredom and avoid the mundane trappings of this coming fall.The modernization of warfare is a terrifying thing.The price and repetition more terrifying however.Borderlands,Day One.Let us fight fear by exercising consumerism!

[proArchy]

count me in for one. everything about this game screams "gimme"

[shovelbum]

No need to worry. It'll be a big seller especially now with several big AAA title delays. All the gamers I know have it on their "must own" list. If the gameplay can match the art then I'd say it'll be a very good time for a new IP.