Why the Wait for Borderlands 3 Has Been So Long

"The easiest thing in the world would be for us to churn out a lot of Pre-Sequels."

By Alex Osborn

While Borderlands 3 has yet to formally be announced by Gearbox Software, studio president Randy Pitchford confirmed last year that work has indeed begun on a new installment, and just recently discussed with IGN why the wait has been so long.

On the latest episode of our monthly interview show IGN Unfiltered (airing tomorrow), Pitchford emphasized that Borderlands is "really important" to Gearbox, and while he loves Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, he believes fans expect the next Gearbox-developed entry in the series to be a "really big, worthy" step forward for the franchise. "If we're going to do one, it's going to be that," he said in reference to his prior comment, noting, "that's not something you can just cook up overnight."

Earlier this year, Pitchford revealed an Unreal Engine 4 tech demo that showcased the technology that will presumably power Borderlands 3, footage of which you can check out below:

Pitchford likened the wait for Borderlands 3 to the long wait for Grand Theft Auto IV after the release of Grand Theft Auto III. He pointed out how the releases of Vice City and San Andreas shortly after Grand Theft Auto III "created in one sense a cadence," but the games were "derived from the same engine, same generation." In the case of Grand Theft Auto IV and the major leap forward it provided for the franchise, Pitchford said there's a lot to be learned from Rockstar's approach, as fans "had to wait a while because [Rockstar] knew that's what people wanted and expected, and they had to build it."

Similarly, Gearbox wants to give Borderlands fans a new entry that provides a significant step forward. "The easiest thing in the world would be for us to churn out a lot of Pre-Sequels, and we could make a lot of money," Pitchford explained. "But I don't think that's—I think we need to figure this out and do this right. So we're going to work on it, and when we think we've had it—we're not going to announce anything until we think we have something worthy of announcing. And then we'll set expectations on that."

Pitchford stressed that he doesn't want to set any expectations too early, noting that "the only expectation that should be set right now is, 'man, it'd be nice if there was another game, and I hope Gearbox is working on it.'" He assured fans the studio is working on what's next, saying, "we are trying, we're figuring it out, and we'll see." In fact, earlier this month at PAX West, Pitchford confirmed 90 percent of the studio is at work on what is almost certainly Borderlands 3.

For more on Gearbox Studios, including Pitchford's thoughts on Duke Nukem Forever, check out part one of our IGN Unfiltered interview with Pitchford, and stay tuned for part two.

Alex Osborn is a freelance writer for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @alexcosborn.

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