Gearbox talks next Brothers in Arms

The Brothers in Arms series will live to fight another day, though that day could be far in the future. Gearbox Software CEO Randy Pitchford told IGNthat he's "really excited" about the next entry in the series, but made clear the game is only in pre-production and is a ways off.

"We love Brothers in Arms. The other pledge is that there will be an authentic Brothers in Arms game," Pitchford said. Again, we haven’t announced that yet, but I’m really excited about where that’s going too. We’ll announce these things in due course. There’s a lot of neat things we have going on."

Pitchford said he will hold off on making an official announcement on the next Brothers in Arms game until the time is appropriate.

"When you’re in pre-production and you're in these iterations, it’s kind of reckless. I don't want to get in a spot. I want to avoid a situation where, five years from now it’s 'wow, this game's been in development for five years.' That’s why I don’t announce things until we know what they are," he added. "It’s not fair to hold us accountable for a process that’s designed to get to a quality end that's good for the customer. We love Brothers in Arms and we’re committed to more time in that space. As we get to places where it makes sense to announce things in that regard, we’ll do that, too."

Pitchford also opened up on the game formerly known as Brothers in Arms: Furious 4. This game was announced during the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo, but Gearbox later revealed it would be reimagined as an entirely new intellectual property. He said Gearbox started development on the game with the intention of making a Brothers in Arms game, but after it kept evolving, it became evident that it was not in fact a Brothers in Arms game.

"It was winning on its own merits, but it was not Brothers in Arms," Pitchford said. I said 'look, unhinge it from Brothers in Arms. Continue to drive and iterate even further. Focus on what is making that work and what ideals are leading you there.' It’s the same kind philosophy that allowed things like Borderlands to exist. Forget about Brothers in Arms. Ignore it. Don't worry about it. That doesn't exist to you guys anymore. Just iterate into your own world with the gameplay loops that are working, and then we will reattach story and style in a way that's meaningful and makes sense for the game design that’s winning."

Pitchford also revealed that Gearbox and longtime Brothers in Arms publisher Ubisoft have not yet agreed to a publishing deal for the new entry, though the two remain on positive terms. He also said that Ubisoft "will not" publish the game Furious 4 has become, without citing a reason.