Randy Pitchford has been having a busy week. After confronting fans and critics alike during his Develop Brighton keynote address earlier this week, Pitchford revealed that Gearbox is working on Duke Nukem 5. But who cares about that, because he also said Gearbox is working on an “authentic” new Brothers in Arms sequel.
Speaking to IGN, Pitchford confirmed that work has begun on a new entry in the franchise:
“I feel we have unfinished business there with both the fiction and the history and I’d like to get into that. I spend a lot of time thinking about it,” he said. “I think the next Brothers in Arms game has to be authentic and we have been working on that.”
The last Brothers in Arms game, Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway, was released in 2008. Three years later, Gearbox announced Brothers in Arms: Furious 4, a Tarantino-inspired spinoff, at E3 2011. Eventually, the “Brothers in Arms” title was dropped and the game morphed into Furious 4… which further transformed into Battleborn:
“So the thing about that… Furious 4 is not a thing anymore, right? Creative development is a trip. The idea that something that started as a Brothers in Arms game through some absurd convolution ended up as Battleborn is evidence of what’s possible.”
Much like with the proposed Duke Nukem game, Pitchford says the team will need help in order to make it happen:
“Sadly it takes a lot of resources, energy and money to do what must be done, so it’s not something I feel I could completely do alone,” he said. “I need good partners for it, so we’ve been talking to great folks but it’s really putting all that together that’s the limiting factor. Once we put all the partnerships together in terms of publishing, collaborators and creatives, we can talk about it.”
I’m glad we’re finally getting another Brothers in Arms game, but I’m not sure if 2015 Gearbox is the same team as 2008 Gearbox. And it might not even happen at all given the company’s need for a development partner. So keep your fingers crossed and your helmets strapped.
