Gearbox producer: Early access not always good

If you announce your game too early, you risk disappointing the community with the long wait. Thus spoke Borderlands 3 producer Chris Brock.

Many studios are now teasing new games years before they actually ship. Like Dragon Age 4 from BioWare, for example. That, however, is not the case with the latest installment in the Borderlands series. It was announced last March and it’s already coming out this September. Chris Brock spoke to PCGamesN and explained the thinking behind this at Gearbox:

It doesn’t feel like there’s anything that great that can happen by saying ‘in three years we’ll have a game.’ It doesn’t feel like there’s any benefit to that. People can be excited, and then you disappoint them by telling them how far away it is. Or you don’t say anything for too long, and they think ‘cool, that’s vaporware, we don’t believe that exists anymore.’

Chris Brock, senior product producer at Gearbox

Gearbox made sure most of the content was ready before making the big reveal.

For the same reason, Gearbox did not release the game in early access. Waiting too long for the official release could have frustrated the players.

Borderlands 3 will be coming out September 13 on PS4, Xbox One and PC (initally exclusive to the Epic Games Store). Gearbox worked on it for almost five years. The latest games to have come out in the series were Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and Telltale’s Tales from the Borderlands; both were released in 2014.