Gearbox Boss Chimes in on Loot Boxes, Says Studios Need To Avoid Turning Gamers Into Addicts

Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford chimed in on the hot loot boxes topic, advocating GaaH (Game as a Hobby) in place of GaaS (Game as a Service).

He also said game studios should try to have an entertainer-audience kind of relationship with customers, rather than turning them into addicts like tobacco companies do.

[Cybermario]

well is too late for that, any game with loot boxes encourages people to buy more and more, i have friends buying hundred of dolars every season to get skins. Fortnite the same. Companies know how people is willing to spend a lot of money, they dont care if they make people addicts.

[Cmv38]

Whether its tobacco, alcohol, drugs, etc addicts are profitable. The game industry unfortunately seems to be learning that.

[Nu]

I play Gears of War Multiplayer daily and don't have to buy those microsoftractions

[zerocarnage]

They arnt skins on fortnite they're the weapons and hero's they do have a use, but that's beside the point.

Eventually people will get sick of it, it is just a case of when it will happen and them gamers will bite back and it will be all the devs+pubs own doing.

Get Greed Gone..

[Nodoze]

I cannot believe people are that weak willed that they MUST buy these ridiculous things. The core game, I get it (especially if it is a strong property like Star Wars). What I do not get is that people cannot resist the urge to buy this CRAP. It is amazing as 99% of what is being obtained USED TO BE FREE in the core product.

Thank the MORONS who continue to support this crap. Anyone who is spending hundreds of dollars on loot boxes needs to re-evaluate their priorities.

[Majin-vegeta]

Well this generation is all about Gimme Gimme instead of working for it..

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Thank you GAAH > GAAS but just remove MTs and Make quality like Nier, persona 5, odyssey, breath of the wild and more. True this stuff causes addiction to gambling which is wrong.

[Imp0ssibl3]

All the games you mentioned are single player, the big question here is how to monetize live service online games to keep making content for them.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Doesn't matter they didn't need MTs in them in order to produce longevity

[OMGitzThatGuy]

Being good singleplayer games is not having longevity. Except Zelda, those games you listed are not very replayability friendly.

[Darkwatchman]

Single player longevity and multiplayer longevity are 2 entirely different things my dude.

[bigmalky]

Very few multiplayer games have longevity. Considering most have a yearly new release, almost entire communities move on to the next game.

Meanwhile, I have played Nier Automata twice and will revisit again, same with TW3, TLoU, most of the Final Fantasy games, old MGS, SNES, PS1, PS2 and other retro games I've played numerous times over the years...

I can't go back to a game a few years later when it doesn't have a live server, or my licence has been pulled, even after paying full price for it.

Single player games done well have massive longevity. Hell, I still play The Last Ninja on a C64 emulator... That's true longevity with no limit to if I can access it.

[Darkwatchman]

@bigmalky, I’ve spent over 1,000 hours on uncharted 2’s and The Last of Us’ multiplayer. I also regularly return to Uncharted 4 multiplayer as one of the games I playwhen I’m in the mood to play a video game, but my brain is fried and I don’t want to focus on an in depth story or maybe I’m in a party with friends and just want a good time and playing a story heavy game will kill the experience of the game. Or it’s not a story heavy game, but has complex mechanics and a difficulty curve and I just want to talk to friends and have fun without thinking too hard or having to put in too much effort. In those cases, I tend to play either rogue likes such as Spelunky and The Binding of Isaac Afterbirth + or I return to favorite multiplayer games like Uncharted 4, or Battlefield 4, or whatever else I can’t remember for the moment. Single player and multiplayer satiate different moods for me. I’ve gone and played nothing but Yakuza 0 for weeks straight, but yet today I got bored of Yakuza Kiwami(I mean the story isn’t as good, but even if it was, that’s not the point) and now I just want to spend the rest of my night on some dumb multiplayer game like Uncharted 4 or maybe even The Binding of Isaac Afterbirth +(I just recently got the physical copy. Played be original when it wasn’t free for PS Plus years ago and now this physical release with the 2 expansions I never paid for have renewed my interest in it)

[LavaLampGoo]

And I'm sure a lot of people say that inside the industry. The question is whether have the luxury of choice within the development and publishing on the game

[fenome]

Please just don't ruin Borderlands with this crap. It's a loot based game and most of the fun is in the grind and trying to farm legendaries. Loot boxes and shit could really screw up a game like this! Don't ruin the fun of the grind trying to get people to pay extra cash.

Me and the wife still split-screen borderlands 2 to this day and hearing Take 2 talking about MTs has me worried about where you're going to take it.

[Alexious]

Well, he explicitly talked about Borderlands and the fact that they don't want to go there with the game. Let's wait for actions to follow words, though.

[fenome]

Yeah, I'm really hoping beyond hope that he follows through with everything he says. I'm still waiting for the damn "official reveal" of the next Borderlands game, the keep talking about it, just announce it already! Lol

[Enjoigamin]

Can't wait for another borderlands.....and yeah I pray they don't ruin it with the MT crap...

[Cmoney007]

BL2 is still a great game.

[fenome]

It really is, it's one of those games I can go back and play again over and over.

I wish they'd remaster the first one because I really liked that one too but when I tried to go back and play it again the framerate was so bad it was like trying to run underwater and I just couldn't get back into it. I liked the first one way better than the pre-sequel, I never even finished the pre-sequel, I just couldn't get into it for some reason.

[Gwiz]

Well Randy in a way we're all addicted to money,the only thing that's free from addiction is the air you breathe.
It's just strange and somewhat radical to point out we're creatures of BAD habits ;).

Still lootboxes suck.

[Krysis]

I can't stand Randy pitchford, but this almost makes me see him as a human.

[gums007]

Same here

[opinionated]

Gearbox isn’t exactly the prime example of consumer friendly lol. Of all people to talk.

[zerocarnage]

By his wording he even goes off and says it's gambling if he's saying studios need to avoid turning gamers into addicts.

It's obvious that publishers and devs can not be trusted anymore, I be been saying it since last gen when it all started, there needs to be a body in place made up of gamers that can restrict the use of it all. A body could be used for all kinds of wrongs not just MT's and loot boxes, and it should be run by gamers and publishers and devs should have to by law legally abide what is set in stone by them because it's getting beyond a joke gaming is now.

Wait till next gen when more yet outrageous methods of forcing gamers to pay come into effect, the greed is real now. What was once a gaming culture where developers mostly did it for the fans and gamers now is a multitude billion dollar industry which reminds me of when the premier-ship in English football changed when I was a kid in the early 90's. All it took for football to change was that one million pound signing pretty much like all it took was a multi million pound sales for developers.

I have put into effect my own way of getting my own back on all this greed, I say no to any game period that is full priced and ridden with MT's now. If the pubs and devs won't behave decently and they're out for lining there pockets I myself will not give them a penny even in a standard copy sale, they don't deserve it no matter how good the game looks . It may be a bit harsh my choice to completely avoid the game that has MT's or loot boxes and I maybe missing out on some very good games just a shame more won't follow suit on it. Some devs are making there games about this whole loot box crap and the fact that a game is now reliant and without them a game can't work properly, that is the way they are making the game look and sound That a players now have to compete for loot boxes, entirely the wrong attitude.

[traumadisaster]

I'm right with you. My favorite hobby in the world is Star Wars and would gladly pay $100 for a proper game that was worth it, but I won't do mt and loot boxes so I cancelled my Amazon physical copy and it hurts but I have to make a stand.

[showtimefolks]

Yet 2k is publishing borderlands 3 and it is owned by take two who just said all their future games will have a one sort of MT meaning randy is all talk but there will be MT and or loot boxes in borderlands 3

Don't worry like many past things market will umber again as more and more become aware of these practices even casuals will start to notice it

This man is so delusional that anyone who said anything negative about their aliens game was blocked

Just few weeks back in his interview with ign he said aliens was a good game and anyone who disagrees is a hater basically

And gave just as stupid of an answer when discussing we they charged full price for bulletstorm

[zerocarnage]

If borderland had loot boxes, I fear a worse way in which they would actually get gamers buying them.

You see borderlands has vending machines of weapons, armor's and items and I predict if they start MT's the game that in those vending machines rite at the top will be displays of certain weapons/armor's and items which will either cost money or cost there own currency which will be brought with real money. That gear brought through said vendors will be far more better stats wise bit I also predict that the vending machines will scale in level like they used to and that is another way it will keep borderlands making tons of money.

Really the vending machine could become a gamers worst nightmare and all it takes is the devs to realise how to turn them into there very own cash cow.

[Hardiman]

I don't do it and I've tried to educate my kids about it.

[Gh05t]

Im sorry this reads like an "I am with you" but "these type of loot boxes are okay" because guess what BL3 is about to have it because Take Two said ALL THEIR future games would feature MT's.

Full Disclosure I hate Randy Pitchford and there is not one thing he could say that I would take at face value.

[JokerBoy422]

This is really good news as it almost guarantees Borderlands 3 wont have these loot crates now!

[MagicBeanz]

I'm not addicted to gaming I could quit whenever I wanted to. Just need to finish AC Origins first.

[EatCrow]

Well said. Respect for this dev

[Elda]

Well I never buy into MTs or Loot boxes & I'm playing several games that have them & enjoying them without spending a dime.

[GamingCentaur]

Smart people will just quit the game if the loot boxes are too grindy.

[inxine]

its really bad. especially since most of these games are not "free to play" but "go and buy it for 60 quid first" games

[Cmoney007]

I also wish that Randy Pitchford and Gearbox actually gave us a great Alien game. It can be hard to trust him. But if BL3 is amazing, then I will forgive him. lol