During a new interview, Gearbox CEO revealed how Borderlands’ iconic comic-book-inspired art style came to be.
With only 10 days left until Borderlands 4’s release, players have started learning new tidbits of information. Most recently, the complete list of trophies and achievements for the game surfaced online. Now, the developers have revealed how they zeroed in on the game’s beloved art style.
Borderlands Devs Started Working on a New Art Style Right Before the Alpha Milestone
In a conversation with GameInformer, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford discussed how Borderlands’ art style was developed and the numerous hurdles they had to overcome to achieve it. When development began for the original game in 2005, the devs were working on six different art styles, which varied from safe to over-the-top.
At the start, they felt that “it’s kind of got to be realism or there’s just no market opportunity.” However, it “just wasn’t exactly right for what the look and feel and vibe of what Borderlands was supposed to be – it didn’t match the gameplay.” Adam May, the art director for Borderlands 4 and a character modeler for the original game, revealed that when Fallout 3 was released, the developers realised that they were in the “same visual place” as Bethesda’s title.
Random Doodles Led to the Creation of Borderlands’ Beloved Art Style
At that time, May was sitting next to a concept artist for the original game, Scott Kester, who used to doodle “illustrated graffiti” during their free time. One of the characters created in these doodles eventually evolved into Captain Flynt, marking the birth of the iconic Borderlands art style that players know and love. With the help of Kester and executive producer Brian Martel, May transformed these 2D sketches into 3D game art and then pitched to Pitchford.
It was a sticky time for them as the game was on tight deadlines and was about to reach its alpha milestone. At that time, they pitched the idea of working on a brand new art style for Borderlands, and Pitchford miraculously agreed to give them two weeks to work on it. The CEO immediately regretted the decision, as he felt that the idea these guys were working on would have to be rejected, given the time constraints.
After the two weeks had passed, Pitchford entered the room, afraid of the inevitability, but to his surprise, the art team had worked wonders. As soon as he laid eyes on the new art style, he felt “it’s f—ing right; It’s right”. “It feels right. And it’s like everything we knew about what was wrong was confirmed when we felt it was right.”
Going Back to the Drawing Board
As soon as the new style was finalized, Pitchford knew it would take considerable effort to get it approved by 2K. Surprisingly, after the bit of back and forth, they agreed, and then most of the stuff had to be redone from scratch. The game was in development for several years at that point, and changing the art style meant leaving almost all the levels and characters behind. Only Trash Coast and one other level remained, and the rest was rebuilt.
In other news, check out Borderlands 4’s roadmap, which highlights all the future content for the game. Additionally, here’s Insider Gaming’s exclusive interview with Randy Pitchford. What are your thoughts on how Borderlands’ iconic art style was created? Let us know through the official Insider Gaming forums discussion.
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