Gearbox on Borderlands 2: “We can’t redo every element for the PC”

Speaking to IncGamers, Gearbox’s chief creative officer Brian Martel has said that the developer has spent more time making sure the PC controls are up to scratch on Borderlands 2 than they were with the original. However, he remains realistic about multiplatform development.

Martel explains that a developer must make multiplatform games with all “systems in mind” or risk becoming “economically unviable”.

“We did a lot more with mouse and keyboard, for sure,” Martel told us. “But what people need to understand is that we’re a business and we can’t redo every element for the PC. If we did that it just wouldn’t be feasible to make a game of this size.

“Using the mouse and keyboard is a compelling experience because this is a shooter at its core. The RPG elements add a lot of depth, but it’s a shooter at its core. We’ve added a lot of UI elements that are aimed at the mouse and keyboard and make it really nice to click through.

“That’s just the fundamental nature of making these kinds of games – you’re predominantly making it on a PC and then using consoles to test that it works properly. You do have to make it with all of the systems in mind. If you concentrate on just one it becomes economically unviable.”

Further Reading:

• Borderlands 2 [Preview] – The Assassin and the teenage sadist
• How do you build a story into Borderlands 2’s open world? [Interview w/ Brian Martel]