Gearbox Software’s president, Randy Pitchford, referred to a new job opening at the studio on Twitter yesterday. Gearbox Software is looking for someone to join the writing team for an unannounced AAA FPS/RPG hybrid with strong characters and a central narrative thread.
This description hints strongly at GBX’s biggest IP, being the Borderlands franchise. If you have been following this site for its Borderlands 3 news this news update might not come as a shock to you, because we already knew that Gearbox and 2K Games are working on the next Borderlands. However with the recent “Inside Gearbox Panels” at PAX the communication has become a bit vague. Marketing wants to keep things a bit of a secret now and that’s why we get these vague descriptions at PAX:
90% of Gearbox Software is working on the thing you want most
Randy Pitchford
These are the things that are being picked up by websites that are not in the know or just try and get clicks. When I saw the job opening I thought nothing about it, just that Gearbox needed some more staff members. However other media outlets thought differently about it and now it’s a sign that Borderlands 3 is secretly in development. Therefore I want to make sure you are up to date, yes the next Borderlands game is in development but it’s not really a secret:
Borderlands 3 Confirmations
- PAX 2015 Randy Pitchford calls out for new team members for the next Borderlands game.
- Take-Two’s financial report mentions the new Borderlands game, which is built specifically for next-gen consoles.
- Claptrap Voice actor confirms Borderlands 3.
- Lead Writer and Art Director revealed for Borderlands 3 at PAX East 2016.
- Borderlands 3 Easter Eggs in Battleborn.
- The tone of the next Borderlands will be closer to the first game.
- Borderlands Tech Demo.
- Why is Gearbox taking so long to produce Borderlands 3?
Job Opening Explained
After reading the comments on some of the other media articles, I saw some people comment that they now expect that it will take a while before we see the next Borderlands. Some of them think that the story still needs to be written. But if you check the job opening you can see that the writer needs to work with an established story and plot outlines.
The person gearbox is looking for will punch up and iterate (exciting) scripts. This sounds like quality control to me, someone that fact/spelling/grammer checks everything. He or she will also have responsibilities like writing dialogue for voice-over and in-game text for missions, flavor, and user interfaces. This will likely be for the side missions and the text in the menus when the missions are presented.
One news outlet spoke about the fact that some developers hire extra people when marketing material needs to be made. So that might just be another hint at Gearbox preparing for an announcement.
