First off, I would like to state that it is okay to be concerned because you care about the health of this franchise. No need to steer pessimism, but let us fact check for a moment…
Over the past 12 months, Gearbox has:
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Released 3 major titles (TPS, Homeworld Remastered, and Tales from the Borderlands)
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Revealed their plans for their upcoming title, Battleborn (and have been very clear about their hopes for it to replace Borderlands as an in-house name)
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Seen a few keystone members if the Borderlands series (including its founding father, Matt Armstrong) exit their doors
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Put up with some pretty real criticism from those lovely outspoken individuals about TPS and Gearbox (some of those individuals who have platforms in their own individual communities)
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Saw its most recent publisher shut down after spending several months working on a highly requested patch
As a person who has been a fan of this series for some time, I can understand how a bit of a “shake-down” can help out in times like these.
As for the details on Matt’s departure from Gearbox, we might never know all the facts. But leaving the creative development of my favorite franchise up to someone else does feel a bit like handing one of my children over to a stranger, you know?
See? Concerned.