Are you a fan of Call of Duty? Have you played Gearbox's excellent Borderlands 2 yet? Depending on your point-of-view, you might be glad or sad to know that Gearbox was once approached by Activision to make a Call of Duty game but the studio declined.
This was revealed by none other than Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford to German site KGN (via MCV), where Pitchford claims the project was "not for him" and states he "couldn't see what there was to aim for."
I couldn’t see what there was to aim for. There would be two scenarios in which a project makes sense for Gearbox. Firstly, if the game wouldn’t come into being without us. Secondly, if we can genuinely contribute something new to an existing brand, offer a unique perspective or a new approach…That was not the case with Call of Duty. The people who deliver Call of Duty have to make the game that fans want and adhere to the rules of the series, to do what is expected of Call of Duty. I don’t really see a challenge there for us. It wouldn’t enhance our reputation as a studio and it wouldn’t really motivate our team.
But what if Gearbox made a Call of Duty spin-off you might ask? Wouldn't work either as the Pitchford claims that if they were to make a military shooter, they'd just most likely return to their own Brothers in Arm franchise.
Well, there you have it. Gearbox won't be making Call of Duty games in the foreseeable future. Mind you, now that this has been brought up, I'm curious to see what Gearbox could do with the Call of Duty formula to shake things up.
Would you want a Call of Duty game developed by Gearbox? If given the chance, which non-Activision studio would you want to make a Call of Duty game?
