Gearbox has decided against making a new game based on the acclaimed 1980s science fiction film “Blade Runner”, which starred Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer and was directed by Ridley “Alien” Scott, despite admitting to having “chased down” the rights to do so in the first place.
Gearbox President Randy Pitchford told the official Xbox Magazine that, in the end, it just all came down to costs. “One of my partners, Brian Martell, had “Blade Runner” on the list (of titles to use). We chased it down and we coulda had it,” he acknowledged in the interview, “but that one failed on the business side, because the way we wanted to do it we wanted to spend twenty five million dollars. And when you do the math on that, we weren’t going to make it back.” As he went on to explain, “You’re going to spend twenty five million, there’s another ten to fifteen million risk in the publishing process, and then you’ve got another ten to fifteen million marketing, and we didn’t think we could make that back. So that’s too bad.”
It’s certainly too bad for fans of the cult classic movie, but the harsh reality for them unfortunately is that a game based on a film that is nearly three decades old is unlikely to do big business nowadays – and with such a hefty price tag attached, Gearbox’s decision to pull the plug on the project is, alas, only too understandable.
