“Having had the pleasure to work with Steve Jones over the past 22 years, I can think of nobody better to lead Gearbox Software,” Randy Pitchford said in the public announcement. “Steve’s integrity and understanding of the game development process is second to none. He embodies the Gearbox Entertainment Company’s mission to Entertain the World and personifies our Gearbox values.” Jones has been with Gearbox since 1999, with a history including working on multiplayer technoguts for games like Halo PC and Brothers In Arms before becoming technical director for Borderlands and its sequel, then being promoted to CTO. As for Pitchford, he’s still president and CEO of the wider Gearbox Entertainment Company, which includes publishing arm Gearbox Publishing and stuff-you-watch division Gearbox Studios. He’s specifically president of Gearbox Studios too. The announcement says he “will continue to lend his institutional knowledge of Gearbox brands and franchises to several creative touch points across the enterprise and maintain hands-on engagement with a myriad of teams and ongoing projects.” A Borderlands movie is in the works, with a surprisingly star-studded cast including Cate Blanchett as Lilith, Jack Black as Claptrap, Jamie Lee Curtis as Patricia Tannis, and Gina Gershon as Mad Moxxi. I don’t like Borderlands but hell, I’ll watch anything which pulls together Cate Blanchett, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Gina Gershon. Gearbox were bought earlier this year by Embracer Group, the vast video games empire which also includes THQ Nordic, Deep Silver, 4A Games, Coffee Stain, and 60-odd other studios. Gearbox Software are expanding too. They announced in August that they’re opening a third studio, in Montréal, to work on the Borderlands series as well as creating new-new things. Rip big man, play us out with a banger.
