Some of the lead developers of Borderlands 3 are walking away from Gearbox Software. Just about two years after the release of the well-received Borderlands 3, six senior developers are leaving the company to work together on a new independent project. Gearbox Software is going through some changes.
According to Axios, Gearbox founder Randy Pitchford says that six developers are leaving the company on good terms. The timing appears to be solid on all sides. In fact, as there are some new projects beginning to ramp up for Gearbox, and this will allow some other team members to step up. Additionally, the senior developers that are leaving were also able to collect royalties for the successful Borderlands 3, as it was released back in 2019.
The developers exiting are Christopher Brock, who was the senior producer of Borderlands 3, Keith Schuler was the lead mission designer, and Scott Kester was the art director. Those three were with Gearbox for over a decade. Meanwhile, Paul Sage was the creative director, Kevin Penrod was the lead character artist, and Chris Strasz was the UX/Game Feel director. Apparently, almost all of this group is already working in pre-production on its new indie project together. Along with these six members that have just announced their departure, the co-writer of Borderlands 3, Danny Homan, left Gearbox for Respawn Entertainment back in May to be the studio's senior writer.
As far as what this means for Borderlands, the team is hard at work at finishing Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, and apparently, the game is right on track even with these six developers stepping away. According to the report, Gearbox has already put a plan together for replacements team members for each departing developer. Additionally, the group was also a part of a yet-to-be-announced game, and Gearbox has already shifted the pieces around for that as well.
What the secret Gearbox game is is not yet known, but the reports simply mentions "Gearbox properties," so it could be any Gearbox-related project, or perhaps something new. There have been some odd rumors about Borderlands 4, so it is entirely possible that the next game in the series is in development as well. With the group being such pivotal members behind Borderlands 3, it is certainly possible that they were tasked with the next game in the franchise. Additionally, if the team was ready to take on new challenges, it makes sense that they were far more intrigued with stretching their creative wings and doing something other than simply another game in the Borderlands world.
Borderlands 3 is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Axios