Although Take-Two has said that Battleborn performed below expectations and was a disappointment, Randy Pitchford, CEO of developer Gearbox Software, did a brief recap of 2016, revealing that millions of people played their hero shooter:
2016: Battleborn launched and was played by millions of gamers. Learned tons of valuable lessons and team continues to iterate.
Official sales numbers for Battleborn haven’t been revealed, but it was “tracking just ahead” of the first Borderlands at launch. Next up for Battleborn is the big Winter Update, which will unlock all 25 core heroes and add PlayStation 4 Pro support.
After talking about how Gearbox published Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak and Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour in 2016, and announced Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition, Pitchford looked ahead to 2017:
2016: Founded a new studio in Quebec, Canada developing new a great new video game I hope to announce in 2017.
2017 Goals: Push quality with in-house development of beloved + new franchises; succeed at starting most developer friendly indie publisher.
2017: I wish our dream to entertain grows stronger and the combination of experience and passion makes us better at it.
To everyone who has supported us – thank you! You are why we fight!
But if you happen to be someone we have ever failed to entertain, we will keep fighting to bring you joy and hope to succeed for you too!
I’m excited to move beyond 2016 and into the future! 2016 was a nice year for Gearbox, but I believe 2017 and beyond will be even better.
Back when the Quebec studio was unveiled, Gearbox said the team was working on “a new game within one of Gearbox’s currently held IP’s.”
What do you hope to see from Gearbox in 2017?