It’s come to light that several high profile developers, all of whom worked on Borderlands 3, have left Gearbox Software to work on a new independent project together.
As first reported by Axios, senior producer Christopher Brock, lead mission designer Keith Schuler, art director Scott Kester, creative director Paul Sage, UX/Game Feel director Chris Strasz and lead character artist Kevin Penrod have all departed as of two weeks ago. Though six are named, seven developers are said to have left in total.
All seven were apparently working on a new project in pre-production at Gearbox. However, it’s being said that Gearbox has already shifted over new team members to fill the void. Speaking to Axios, Gearbox founder Randy Pitchford said “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.”
Pitchford also claimed that the group of Borderlands 3 developers were leaving “on the best of terms” and in the meantime “the bulk of our attention at the moment is dedicated to finishing ‘Wonderlands, which is on-track.” There’s no word yet on the independent project the departed developers will be working on.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands meanwhile was revealed back in June. The spin-off will be set in its own universe-within-the-Borderlands-universe, and is currently expecting to launch in early 2022 on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and PC.
