Video game company Gearbox has a wide catalog of games made by some talented developers. Now though, it seems Gearbox may be losing some of those creative minds, as multiple senior developers of the Borderlands 3 development team are leaving Gearbox to start working on a new collaborative project.
In a report by Axios, the devs leaving Gearbox are senior producer Christopher Brock, lead mission designer Keith Schuler, and art director Scott Kester. These members have been with the company for more than a decade. Along with members listed above, creative director Paul Sage, UX/Game Feel director Chris Strasz, and lead character artist Kevin Penrod are all leaving as well.
A source tells Axios that almost all of the departing developers were working on the same project, which is currently in pre-production. Gearbox founder Randy Pitchford told Axios that the group is leaving Gearbox “on the best of terms.” Pitchford continues, saying, “Before their transition, the group was part of a not-yet-announced pre-production team and their departure will cause minimal disruption in our current plans. The bulk of our attention at the moment is dedicated to finishing ‘Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, which is on track.”
Finally, Axios adds that the exits represented a new era with the past developers leaving with their ideas, and said there was excitement in the studio that, “fresh blood is now going to be leading the project they left.” Normally, a departure of this magnitude would be a cause for concern among game studios, so it’s a relief to see that Gearbox is handling this move well.
As of now, Gearbox will continue to operate as normal with this new flock of fresh minds coming in to take over one of the most beloved franchises in modern gaming. Gearbox also recently announced updates to Borderlands 3. These updates include crossplay, an increased level cap, the return of Cartels, and other features that fans will appreciate, which are all out now. For now, though, Gearbox will shift focus to using these new creative minds to create new adventures for all their fans.