Q&A with Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox Software
- August 06, 2009 00:00 AM PST
GamePro: What about online cheaters?
Randy Pitchford: We're going to wait and see what the cheaters do, and then we'll attack them. It's the only way to fight them, they'll be there no matter what we do. The console versions are a safer space, obviously...and you can play split-screen!
GP: Is the co-op vehicle combat still in Borderlands?
RP: Vehicles are certainly in the game. A few hours into Borderlands, you'll be able to spawn vehicles at vehicle stations, pick your paint job, weapons, and so on. Vehicles are great for moving around quickly, and friends can jump in too.
GP: Borderlands has a lot of weapons, but do you still stand by your "500,000 guns" claim from a year or two ago?
RP: Oh yeah. There are now millions of guns. There are so many guns that it doesn't even matter now; you won't even see them all. There are more guns in Borderlands than in every shooter on the Xbox 360 and PS3 added together.
GP: What about customizing weapons, or modding them? Can you improve guns?
RP: Oh, customizing guns? There's very little of that. Instead, you'll want to look for a better gun as you level up your character.
Looking at Borderlands, and looking at id Software's Rage, a layman might be forgiven for thinking they look a little similar. Both games are shooters with similar worlds, and vehicles....
I think Rage looks really cool, but I don't know much about it. We'll see: it sounds like we'll be waiting a while for Rage, while Borderlands is out in October. I love id Software! When Doom 3 came out, we actually closed our studio for the day to play it.
I'm curious to learn more about Rage's gameplay. I recently saw the cover of Game Informer; I don't know who did the art for that cover, but it was really sketchy! It really turned me off! But I have faith in id Software, they're friends, and when Rage is ready I'm sure it's gonna be great.
GP: What do you think about id Software teaming up with Bethesda Softworks?
RP: It's interesting! It's not my business, but I know they haven't been happy with Activision for a while. They even signed Rage with EA, so clearly they've been looking around. They're staffing up, which is hard. The Bethesda guys...look how they got behind Fallout 3, and they knocked it out of the park on the publishing side. It should be really interesting.
From a business perspective, my crystal ball says there's probably an IPO or a sale of Zenimax (Bethesda's parent company) in the future. Id's probably got a piece of that, some equity stock or something. On one level it's kind of hard to hear, because id's always been such a strong independent studio. We're independent too! Something clearly changed for [id] for them to make a different decision; either their goals changed or their situation changed. But that doesn't mean it's bad! As a gamer, I'm cautiously optimistic, because I want awesome stuff from them!
GP: I do have to sneak in a question about Aliens: Colonial Marines, which was recently delayed. Basically, is it still coming?
RP: Yeah, of course. I'm committed to it. I know there's been a lot of rumors, but I try to be above that stuff. Whatever. We're all in, baby! When Sega's ready, they'll cut me loose and I'll be able to talk about it!
GP: Have you seen the Aliens vs Predator game Rebellion is working on?
RP: Yeah, I think it's pretty cool. Rebellion is a good team, and I look forward to it. Aliens is such a powerful brand...I'm thankful someone's doing anything with it! I hope it does really well, and I'll be a customer for sure.
GP: I'm an unabashed fan of the Aliens films...
RP: I saw that film 50 million times in college! I've been stealing from that movie since it's come out.
