PS3 News: Gearbox Turned Down Call Of Duty...And Do You Know Why? - PS3 News

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Gearbox Turned Down Call Of Duty...And Do You Know Why?

Okay, we hear a lot of you Call of Duty haters out there giggling away. But these statements seem factual, don't they?

According to a recent interview given by Gearbox Software boss Randy Pitchford, the Borderlands developer was given the chance to create a new entry in the uber-popular Call of Duty franchise.

Most any studio would leap at the opportunity because it's almost guaranteed to generate a financial windfall. But Pitchford said that from a creative standpoint, it wasn't very attractive because quite frankly, the project wouldn't pose a "significant challenge."

"I don’t think there’s anything to accomplish there. I think if I was only in it for the money I would’ve done that.[...] I think to do 'Call of Duty' right you need to do what needs to be done and there are a lot of people who can do that. For us it wouldn’t add to our credibility, it wouldn’t move us forward. There would be no significant challenge that would be gratifying to overcome."

Pitchford added that CoD has become a "self-fulfilling prophecy, to a degree," and that the reason for the franchise's ridiculous success is its reliability. It's basically guaranteed to hit hard. However, a few analysts say they see signs of weakening after this past year's Call of Duty: Black Ops II (despite breaking more records) failed to impress the industry insiders from a franchise growth perspective.

But anyway, we gotta give Pitchford a few cookies for this one. Dude wasn't afraid to say it.

Tags: randy pitchford, gearbox software, call of duty, cod games

1/11/2013 9:39:38 PM Ben Dutka

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Comments (27 posts)

Cloud X Blue
Friday, January 11, 2013 @ 10:52:45 PM
Reply

At least some people are in it for quality and you can tell with gearbox`s game.

Agree with this comment 8 up, 0 down Disagree with this comment

Zemus101
Friday, January 11, 2013 @ 11:22:35 PM
Reply

These are the companies I want to get behind and support with my monies.

Agree with this comment 9 up, 0 down Disagree with this comment

Mounce
Sunday, January 13, 2013 @ 12:53:19 PM

No, it's the reason why people like David Jaffe and Randy Pitchford are awesome people to look to as figureheads within the gaming industry who can speak their mind and they still have their pride and dignity. They haven't sold their souls to giant corporations or greedy publishers and they don't cash in on everything possible.

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WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, January 11, 2013 @ 11:36:29 PM
Reply

"no significant challenge that would be gratifying to overcome."

Yup. David Cage would be proud.

Agree with this comment 6 up, 1 down Disagree with this comment

bigrailer19
Saturday, January 12, 2013 @ 12:57:31 AM
Reply

This is why Borderlands 2 is so damn amazing. Challenge accepted.

Agree with this comment 4 up, 0 down Disagree with this comment

Norrin Radd
Saturday, January 12, 2013 @ 9:28:16 AM

I see what y0u did there!

Agree with this comment 1 up, 0 down Disagree with this comment

Gamer46
Saturday, January 12, 2013 @ 2:03:35 AM
Reply

Good, I'm glad they turned it down, the last thing this industry needs is a company like Gearbox getting stuck on CoD development.

Agree with this comment 3 up, 0 down Disagree with this comment

Lawless SXE
Saturday, January 12, 2013 @ 2:06:10 AM
Reply

I like it. I like it a lot.

Agree with this comment 2 up, 0 down Disagree with this comment

JROD0823
Saturday, January 12, 2013 @ 3:01:17 AM
Reply

Why Activision ever thought that Gearbox would be willing to lower their standards to make a CoD game confounds me greatly.

Agree with this comment 5 up, 0 down Disagree with this comment

___________
Saturday, January 12, 2013 @ 3:42:00 AM
Reply

one thing i love about randy, he speaks his mind he does not give a sh*t who hes talking about!
gotta respect a company who wants to do something as a challenge, to better themselves, to learn and progress, not just to make a extra buck!
only if the whole industry was like that........

Agree with this comment 2 up, 0 down Disagree with this comment

Hand_of_Sorrow
Saturday, January 12, 2013 @ 4:13:50 AM
Reply

and after saying what he did, he'll be looking for a new job.

Agree with this comment 0 up, 6 down Disagree with this comment

ZettaiSeigi
Saturday, January 12, 2013 @ 4:49:20 AM

Why would he be? Gearbox Software does not develop games for Activision. Besides, I see nothing wrong with what he said. It's blunt for sure, but it's something I actually appreciate.

Agree with this comment 5 up, 0 down Disagree with this comment

Snaaaake
Saturday, January 12, 2013 @ 8:05:47 AM

Gearbox is independent so it's fine, not to mention Borderlands is published by 2K Games.

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LowKey
Saturday, January 12, 2013 @ 6:53:37 AM
Reply

What a pompous, arrogant jerk. "Oh it would be to easy" pfft get over yourself asshole. If it's to "easy" and "wouldn't move you forward", than why not make it better? Make it make you move forward. We all know it needs improvements. So why not be the company that changed and improved COD? If you don't care about the money than you'd gain hordes of thankful fans. It's really hard to keep this clean right now feeling this raged by an obvious douchebag.

Agree with this comment 1 up, 11 down Disagree with this comment

Snaaaake
Saturday, January 12, 2013 @ 8:04:58 AM

Well, I think that it's easy to make a CoD game while not worrying about quality or sales.
However, to properly make one, one might not have enough time as Activision has deadlines for CoD.
Maybe that's why.

Agree with this comment 7 up, 0 down Disagree with this comment

xenris
Saturday, January 12, 2013 @ 9:54:01 AM

Because he can't make it different LowKey that is the whole point. Lets take Blops2 as an example. Most of the critics said it was the biggest evolution in the franchise since MW1, which I personally think is a load of crap but that is not the point.

The point is, blops2 kept the gunplay the exact same, the pacing of the single player the same and only changed a few things like the pick 10 system(which is a good change)and the spec ops missions(which was severely under realized) oh right and a couple choices to change the endings.

But with ALL of those "revolutionary" changes it still felt the exact.

So what Randy is saying is that they wouldn't have been able to take it in a new and ambitious direction, activision wouldn't have let them. It has to be familiar enough to make impluse sales and they can add small things to see how they are received like the pick 10 or the spec ops missions but that is it.

I would imagine Randy would want to make it really emotional like his Brothers in Arms series, or maybe even make it open world. But he wouldnt be able to do that because that isn't what the people who buy it every year want.

He isn't pompous at all he is one of the most grounded devs I have ever seen in interviews and he is a gamer.

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WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, January 12, 2013 @ 12:50:17 PM

Xenris read my mind again.

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xenris
Saturday, January 12, 2013 @ 6:47:30 PM

We're on the same wavelength bro :)

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Hand_of_Sorrow
Saturday, January 12, 2013 @ 10:35:24 AM
Reply

about my comment, i just naturaly thought gearbox was
part of Antivision.

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firesoul453
Saturday, January 12, 2013 @ 12:34:51 PM
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I thought black ops II was the best COD yet. Much better than the horrible COD MW III.

But either way I'd rather have Gearbox work on their own original games because that seems to be the ones they do best with.

Agree with this comment 1 up, 0 down Disagree with this comment

ulsterscot
Saturday, January 12, 2013 @ 1:24:48 PM
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No Randy is right - Gearbox should keep their creative juices flowing with epics like Duke Nukem Forever - and stay the hell away - far away from COD

Agree with this comment 1 up, 2 down Disagree with this comment

WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, January 12, 2013 @ 2:03:13 PM

I can't wait until they put out their own Duke game, it's going to be a return to greatness.

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bigrailer19
Saturday, January 12, 2013 @ 5:47:34 PM

I cant wait for more Borderlands 2 dlc. Best game ive played since Uncharted 3.

Agree with this comment 1 up, 0 down Disagree with this comment

fatelementality
Saturday, January 12, 2013 @ 6:25:05 PM
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I didn't say anything neat.......but can I still have a few cookies?

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cadpig
Sunday, January 13, 2013 @ 12:49:30 PM
Reply

It just makes me wonder, what could have been...I would have loved to see the guys behind "Borderlands" take on Call of Duty

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chuckuykendall
Sunday, January 13, 2013 @ 6:42:52 PM

Borderlands is great for its music, for its writing AND for its writing (also its writing), for its story, and for its bazzilionder guns. CoD is none of those. One of two things would happen:

1. GB would make their own version of CoD, and who knows what type of success it would have.
2. GB would make the generic (or as close to it as they could if they don't have access to the original engine) CoD to fall in line with its predecessors, and in the process lose their souls.
Last edited by chuckuykendall on 1/13/2013 6:43:19 PM

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chuckuykendall
Sunday, January 13, 2013 @ 6:40:05 PM
Reply

+1 for Crazy Earl!

Also, I think that there is so much profit in the CoD franchise that as long as they maintain their numbers (i.e., don't start losing customers), Activision will continue to drown in waves of cash.

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