‘Borderlands’ Creator Matthew Armstrong Leaves Gearbox Software


The creator and franchise director of Borderlands, Matthew Armstrong, has left his position at Gearbox Software. The move was announced on Armstrong’s Twitter feed on April 17.

Listed as the game design director as well as writer on the original Borderlands, Armstrong would go on to work on Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. It is not known exactly what his title was for the latter games as Gearbox opted for a more generic credit scroll simply entitled, “Gearbox Software is.”

GameInformer reached out for comment from Armstrong following his tweets that things have changed. In a series of direct messages back to the industry trade publication, he stated, “Pre-Sequel, Claptastic Voyage, and Handsome collection all shipped. In a rare moment, I was temporarily non-vital. I could leave without damaging Borderland [sic] or Gearbox too much if I did it at this moment, so now was the time.”

“I think Gearbox will do great in the future, and I think Borderlands will stay strong and awesome,” he added. I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I’m not quitting out of anger or getting fired. It’s just time for new adventures. I’m an inventor. I’m ready to make something new. Not just new to me, but new to everyone.”

Borderlands and Borderlands 2 were developed at Gearbox with the Pre-Sequel handled by 2K Australia, who received positive reviews for their work on the franchise under the supervision of Gearbox and presumably Armstrong, judging by his comments to GameInformer.

The Inquisitr covered previously that Gearbox, which is part of the 2K publishing company, would announce at PAX South that the next Borderlands title is already underway even without the Borderlands creator on the team. The title will be the first entry exclusively for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and presumably the Windows and Mac platforms, as previous games have been.

The departure of the Borderlands creator is another somber note for the franchise which also saw the closure of 2K Australia, the developer of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. 2K Canberra was the last AAA studio in Australia following the closure of other studios such as Team Bondi, who developed the L.A. Noire title for Rockstar. 2K cited that the cost of running 2K Australia was too much. Kotaku Australia was provided the following quote from 2K,

“We can confirm we have taken steps to begin the studio closure process for 2K Australia in order to better manage ongoing development costs while improving the working proximity of our creative teams. We are very grateful for the team’s valuable contributions to numerous 2K projects, and are working with affected staff to explore reassignment opportunities where possible.”

Whether or not the closure of the studio had any effect on the Borderlands creator Armstrong leaving Gearbox is unknown.

[Image Source | Gearbox]

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