Borderlands Art Style Gamble Cost $50 Million and a Year
Take-Two CEO reveals the original Borderlands' iconic art style change cost $50 million and a year of development, a gamble that proved essential for its success.
Coverage across 3 outlets
Morning Postmortems/Retrospectives
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick stated that the art style overhaul for the original Borderlands cost approximately $50 million and delayed development by a year. He believes this change was crucial to the game's eventual success.
Take-Two CEO says "Borderlands wouldn't have been a hit" without $50 million art style change gamble
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick revealed that a significant $50 million change to Borderlands' art style, implemented just two months before its original release, was crucial to the game's eventual success. Gearbox Software proposed the shift from a muted aesthetic to its now-iconic hand-inked look, a decision Zelnick supported despite the immense cost and risk, believing it was essential for differentiation.
Take-Two CEO says the original Borderlands' art style overhaul cost a year of dev time and $50 million: 'Had…
Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick revealed that the art style overhaul for the original Borderlands cost $50 million and delayed the game by a year. Despite the significant investment and risk, Zelnick supported the decision to differentiate the game's visual identity, which ultimately contributed to its success.
