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Gearbox Had Plans For A Blade Runner Game
Gearbox's latest project is the upcoming Aliens: Colonial Marines, but it turns out that it''s not the first time the company has dabbled with a well-known sci-fi property. According to CEO Randy Pitchford, the studio once held the gaming rights for Ridley Scott's influential film Blade Runner.
As Pitchford explains in a Aliens: Colonial Marines cover story in Official PlayStation Magazine, the studio went after a list of dream properties, including Blade Runner. Once they had it, he says, he realized that it wouldn't have worked out. To do it justice, Pitchford says it would have cost about $40 million to develop, and he didn't think it would have sold more than 600,000 copies.
"There's no rational business model that would have allowed that to make sense," he added. "If we'd made it with a business model that did work, it would not have been the Blade Runner game we all would have wanted."
Well, that's a bummer. At least Gearbox had the good sense to recognize the situation and dodge that particular bullet. Meanwhile, if you've never seen the movie, head over to Netflix. It's available for instant streaming, and it's a pretty darned good flick.
[Via CVG]
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