Episode 22: Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford

FromIGN Unfiltered

Start listening View podcast show

Episode 22: Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford

FromIGN Unfiltered

ratings:

Length:

100 minutes

Released:

Sep 1, 2017

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

The president and CEO of Borderlands creator Gearbox Studios shares stories from his fascinating career in games, including getting his start on Duke Nukem 3D, working on Half-Life, Halo, Brothers in Arms, and much more!

Released:

Sep 1, 2017

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (66)

IGN Unfiltered goes in-depth with creators of your favorite video games, talking not just about the games themselves but about the fascinating lives of the people behind them. New episodes each month!

Skip carousel

Unfiltered 07: Gears of War and Lawbreakers Creator Cliff Bleszinski: Legendary game designer Cliff Bleszinski joins us for over an hour to share Gears of War stories, how he developed his first game as a teenager, more about his new game Lawbreakers, and much more! by IGN Unfiltered
81 min listen
Episode 03: Aaron Greenberg: Longtime Xbox marketing executive Aaron Greenberg talks about the early Xbox days, his favorite Xbox moments, the 2016 Xbox lineup, his love for Xbox boss Phil Spencer, his early days working at Disney and Nestle, and much more! by IGN Unfiltered
96 min listen
Episode 01: Tim Schafer: Double Fine Productions founder and LucasArts design legend Tim Schafer sits down for a one-hour chat about everything ranging from his canceled games to how he feels about LucasArts' closure to his proudest career moment and more! by IGN Unfiltered
73 min listen
Episode 14: Naughty Dog Co-Founder and Oculus Exec Jason Rubin: Naughty Dog co-founder Jason Rubin has been in the games business since he was 14. We interview him about building Naughty Dog, trying to save THQ, and making VR games at Oculus. by IGN Unfiltered
79 min listen
Episode 06: No Man's Sky Mastermind Sean Murray: No Man's Sky programmer and mastermind Sean Murray sits down for over an hour to discuss his early days in the industry working on Burnout 3, the humble origins of No Man's Sky, how VR could be a good fit for No Man's Sky, what it was like to meet... by IGN Unfiltered
75 min listen
Episode 19: Harmonix Co-Founder Alex Rigopulos: Harmonix co-founder Alex Rigopulos discusses his unique career, from starting Harmonix out of MIT to Disney using some of their tech for theme parks to, of course, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Dance Central, and the rise and fall of the music game genre. by IGN Unfiltered
72 min listen
Episode 13: Inventor and Oculus Co-Founder Jack McCauley: Oculus co-founder Jack McCauley's fascinating career not only includes VR, but also designing the Guitar Hero controllers, the scrolling mouse wheel, and USB! by IGN Unfiltered
70 min listen
Episode 05: Halo and Destiny Composer Marty O'Donnell: Halo and Destiny composer Marty O'Donnell shares incredible stories from his many years at Bungie, including a canceled game called 'Gypsum', how Halo 2 was originally supposed to end, meeting Paul McCartney, and much more! by IGN Unfiltered
129 min listen
Episode 16: Mortal Kombat Co-Creator Ed Boon: Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon discusses his career, including the origin and rise of the franchise, the still-beloved movie, Injustice, and more! by IGN Unfiltered
52 min listen
Episode 02: Josh Holmes (Def Jam, NBA Street, Turok, Halo 4, Halo 5): 343 Industries studio head of internal development Josh Holmes has had quite an interesting career. We revisit all of it in a one-hour chat, from creating Def Jam Vendetta and NBA Street at EA to rebooting Turok to joining 343 to lead Halo to even his... by IGN Unfiltered
68 min listen
Episode 12: Call of Duty and Titanfall Creator Vince Zampella: Our 45-minute chat with industry legend Vince Zampella covers his entire career, from his early days at GameTek to Medal of Honor to Call of Duty to the Activision lawsuit and now to Respawn and Titanfall. by IGN Unfiltered
51 min listen
Episode 36: 3D Realms Founder Scott Miller: 3D Realms founder Scott Miller has worked on a lot of memorable games in his career, from Duke Nukem 3D to Max Payne to the original Prey to Duke Nukem Forever. He discusses his experiences making games in this hour-long interview. by IGN Unfiltered
69 min listen
Episode 17: Ultima Creator and Astronaut Richard Garriott: Ultima creator Richard Garriott tells us incredible stories about his life and career, including his early Ultima success, changing the gaming world with Ultima Online, visiting outer space as a private-citizen astronaut, exploring (and getting stuck... by IGN Unfiltered
108 min listen
Episode 08: Xbox Co-Creator Ed Fries: Xbox co-creator and former Microsoft Game Studios boss Ed Fries discusses growing up with video games, his early days at Microsoft on the Excel team, buying Bungie for the nascent Xbox, his respect for Phil Spencer, and much more. by IGN Unfiltered
66 min listen
Episode 09: Former Chief Xbox Officer Robbie Bach: Original Chief Xbox Officer Robbie Bach discusses the challenges of the original Xbox and the triumphs of the Xbox 360 in a far-ranging 45-minute interview. by IGN Unfiltered
50 min listen
Episode 10: EA Chief Competition Officer Peter Moore: EA boss Peter Moore shares Dreamcast stories from his days as a Sega executive, Xbox stories from his time at Microsoft, and what he's up to at EA now in an 80-minute interview. by IGN Unfiltered
91 min listen
Episode 04: Xbox Live Arcade Creator Greg Canessa: Former Xbox exec and XBLA creator Greg Canessa sits down for a 70-minute interview about how XBLA almost didn't happen, Bill Gates's favorite XBLA game, and much more! by IGN Unfiltered
76 min listen
Episode 28: Diablo Creator David Brevik: Diablo creator David Brevik recounts his fascinating career making games, including how a Justice League game led to Diablo, the meteoric success of Diablo and Diablo II, his years at Blizzard, and what he's up to now. by IGN Unfiltered
94 min listen
Episode 21: Deus Ex and System Shock Creator Warren Spector: The creator of Deus Ex, System Shock, Ultima Underworld, Epic Mickey, and more sits down for an hour-long interview about his entire fascinating career. by IGN Unfiltered
71 min listen
Episode 15: RPG Legend Feargus Urquhart: Longtime Black Isle Studios and Obsidian Entertainment CEO Feargus Urquhart shares stories about his career, including working with South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, getting burned by big publishers, building his own IP, and more! by IGN Unfiltered
73 min listen
Episode 38: NBA 2K Gameplay Director Mike Wang: Longtime NBA 2K gameplay director Mike Wang discusses his fascinating career story, including getting noticed on a message board, leaving 2K for EA's NBA Live and immediately regretting it, coming back, and much more in this one-hour interview! by IGN Unfiltered
71 min listen
Episode 29: Rare Studio Head Craig Duncan: Rare studio head Craig Duncan chats about his life and career, including his time running Rare. He discusses how Sea of Thieves arrived at its pirate theme, whether they might let other studios work on classic Rare IP, the Kinect years, and much... by IGN Unfiltered
94 min listen
Episode 23: Randy Pitchford Part 2 - Aliens: Colonial Marines, Battleborn, and More!: The president and CEO of Borderlands creator Gearbox Studios returns after his initial visit last month to finish his story. This time, he shares more stories from his fascinating career in games, including Aliens: Colonial Marines, Battleborn, the... by IGN Unfiltered
98 min listen
IGN Unfiltered 11: Longtime PlayStation Boss Jack Tretton: Longtime SCEA President and CEO Jack Tretton recounts his career at Sony, including his thoughts on the Vita, the PS3 launch, the PSN hack, the historic success of the PS2 and PS4, and much more! by IGN Unfiltered
48 min listen
Episode 18: Renowned Game Designer Peter Molyneux: Peter Molyneux's career has been fascinating, whether you play his games or not. His resume includes Populous, Dungeon Keeper, Theme Park, Fable, and many more. This two-hour interview covers all of it, including other topics like Kinect and his... by IGN Unfiltered
114 min listen
Episode 25 - Cuphead's Chad and Jared Moldenhauer: Cuphead is one of gaming's best success stories of 2017. The hand-drawn 2D-animated bullet-hell shooter captured everyone's attention a few years ago, and has held onto it ever since – right up through its long-awaited and fantastic final... by IGN Unfiltered
83 min listen
Episode 33: Firewatch and Darksiders 3 Voice Actress Cissy Jones: Cissy Jones has been a voice actor in many games you know and love: Firewatch, Telltale's The Walking Dead, Grand Theft Auto 5, and now Darksiders 3. Hear all about her fascinating career in this hour-long interview! by IGN Unfiltered
65 min listen
Episode 35: Insomniac Founder Ted Price: Ted Price founded Insomniac Games almost 20 years ago. In this hour-long interview, he details his life and career in video games, from his chance meeting with a future business partner to his early bet on PlayStation to creating games like Spyro,... by IGN Unfiltered
72 min listen
Episode 27: Journey, Flower, and Sky Creator Jenova Chen: thatgamecompany co-founder Jenova Chen talks about his fascinating game development career, from growing up as a gamer in China to what it took to create Journey, as well as his quest to bring games to more people, his new project Sky, and more! by IGN Unfiltered
95 min listen
Episode 22: Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford: The president and CEO of Borderlands creator Gearbox Studios shares stories from his fascinating career in games, including getting his start on Duke Nukem 3D, working on Half-Life, Halo, Brothers in Arms, and much more! by IGN Unfiltered
100 min listen

More Episodes from IGN Unfiltered

Skip carousel

Episode 65: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Director Stig Asmussen (2023): Star Wars Jedi: Survivor game director Stig Asmussen returns to IGN Unfiltered for another long-form conversation about building a AAA Star Wars game. He discusses what it takes to build a great sequel, the future of the Star Wars Jedi franchise, the potential use of Unreal Engine 5 in the future, what the success of Jedi Fallen Order did for his team, and much more! by IGN Unfiltered
48 min listen
IGN Presents | The Callisto Protocol: Helix Station: In the year 2320, a skip tracer hunts down a dangerous escaped criminal on a derelict space station. In the process, she must confront murderous alien life forms, as well as unspeakable horrors from her past. New episodes every Thursday. by IGN Unfiltered
3 min listen
Episode 64: Gears of War Creator Cliff Bleszinski: Cliff Bleszinski, renowned designer of Gears of War, Unreal, Unreal Tournament, Jazz Jackrabbit, and more, returns for his first IGN Unfiltered interview since 2016 to discuss his life and career as detailed in his new memoir, Control Freak. Cliff... by IGN Unfiltered
58 min listen
Episode 63: Rick & Morty Co-Creator Justin Roiland: Justin Roiland reveals the origin of Rick & Morty's voices, the long road towards finally getting a hit show, and the longer road towards creating a successful video game studio – including lots of discussion Squanch's upcoming comedy-FPS, High... by IGN Unfiltered
76 min listen
Episode 62: Halo Infinite Director Joseph Staten: My guest this episode is Halo Infinite head of creative and longtime Bungie writer Joseph Staten. In this career-spanning interview, Staten discusses his unique path into the video game industry, the early days of Halo at Bungie, helping create... by IGN Unfiltered
69 min listen
Episode 61: Bethesda's Todd Howard (2021 Interview): Bethesda Game Studios director Todd Howard – my first repeat guest! – returns to discuss Skyrim as The Elder Scrolls V celebrates its 10th anniversary this week. Of course, we don't just talk about this past. Todd also discusses his next big... by IGN Unfiltered
44 min listen
Episode 60: Elder Scrolls Online Boss Matt Firor: ZeniMax Online Studios boss Matt Firor discusses his long career in MMORPGs, bringing The Elder Scrolls online, what the studio is up to next after the Microsoft acquisition, and more! by IGN Unfiltered
61 min listen
Episode 59: Shadow Warrior 3 Game Director Kuba Opoń: Shadow Warrior 3 game director Kuba Opoń, who discusses his career in games – from his start as a programmer inspired by Quake 3 to becoming a game director on Shadow Warrior 3 to what makes good first-person shooter AI and more! by IGN Unfiltered
42 min listen
Episode 58: Game Industry Investigative Reporter Jason Schreier: This month's guest is games media investigative reporter Jason Schreier, who's written a new book called Press Reset: Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry. The former Kotaku and current Bloomberg reporter talks about the perils of the game... by IGN Unfiltered
73 min listen
Episode 57: IO Interactive CEO and Co-Owner Hakan Abrak: IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak talks very openly and honestly about running a AAA independent game studio in the modern era. In this 75-minute interview he discusses leaving Square Enix to go it alone and how the studio almost ran out of money at one... by IGN Unfiltered
81 min listen
Episode 56: Six Days in Fallujah's Peter Tamte and Jaime Griesemer: Peter Tamte and Jaime Griesemer, two ex-Halo developers from Bungie, have now teamed up to help bring Six Days in Fallujah, the military shooter based on the real-life Iraq War battle in 2004, after the original version of it was and... by IGN Unfiltered
78 min listen
Episode 55: Aliens: Fireteam Leads Craig Zinkievich and Matt Highison: My guests this episode are Aliens: Fireteam development leads and Cold Iron Studios co-founders Craig Zinkievich and Matt Highison. The duo discusses how they came to get the Aliens license from Disney, the game they were working on before the Disney... by IGN Unfiltered
59 min listen
Episode 54: Raven Software Cofounder Brian Raffel: Raven Software cofounder Brian discusses starting Raven with his brother in Wisconsin, partnering with Doom creators id Software early on, and subsequently working with giant pop culture brands like Star Wars, Star Trek, Marvel, and Call of Duty.... by IGN Unfiltered
60 min listen
Episode 53: The Game Awards Host Geoff Keighley: Geoff Keighley – longtime games media personality best known as the host, creator, and executive producer of The Game Awards – discusses his long history with awards shows, his thoughts on the PS5 and Xbox Series X, the cancellation of E3, his... by IGN Unfiltered
76 min listen
Episode 52: Jon Brooke and Lee Singleton (Outriders, Hitman Go, Sleeping Dogs): Square Enix External Studios heads Jon Brooke and Lee Singleton discuss their time in the video game industry, from Outriders, their brand-new game with People Can Fly, to their past work on Hitman Go, Sleeping Dogs, Just Cause, and more! by IGN Unfiltered
45 min listen
Episode 51: Max Schaefer and Matt Uelmen (Diablo 1, 2, and Torchlight): This month's guests are Echtra Games's Max Schaefer and Matt Uelmen, both former Blizzard North developers and co-creators of Diablo and Diablo 2 as well as the Torchlight series. The duo shares stories about Diablo 2 in celebration of its 20th... by IGN Unfiltered
66 min listen
Episode 50: Marcus Lehto (Halo, Disintegration): Longtime Bungie art director and eventual game director Marcus Lehto created the Master Chief himself and helmed Halo Reach, one of the series's most beloved entries. In this one-hour interview, Lehto discusses his humble origins, such as how he got... by IGN Unfiltered
76 min listen
Episode 49: Robin Walker and Chris Remo (Valve/Half-Life: Alyx): Valve's Robin Walker and Chris Remo two of the developers behind the long-awaited return of Half-Life in the form of Half-Life: Alyx. In this interview, Walker and Remo discuss everything from the unexpected origins of The Orange Box, Alyx's insane... by IGN Unfiltered
68 min listen
Episode 48: Hugo Martin and Marty Stratton (id Software/DOOM Eternal): Our guests this month are two of the leaders behind the 2016 reboot of DOOM and the upcoming sequel DOOM Eternal, Hugo Martin and Marty Stratton. In this interview, Martin and Stratton discuss everything from the failed DOOM 4 prototype to why they... by IGN Unfiltered
73 min listen
Episode 47: Stig Asmussen (Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, God of War trilogy): Veteran game developer Stig Asmussen, who discusses his career in gaming, from being an art director and eventual game director on God of War 3 to leading a team at Respawn Entertainment on the smash-hit Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. by IGN Unfiltered
67 min listen
Episode 46: Phil Harrison (Sony, Xbox, Google): My guest this month is Phil Harrison, who joined Sony during the early PlayStation days and rose through the ranks. He shares career stories from behind the scenes of the PS2 and PS3, and also of his time at Microsoft in the late-Xbox 360,... by IGN Unfiltered
70 min listen
Episode 45: Sean Krankel (Oxenfree, Afterparty): Welcome to the newly relaunched IGN Unfiltered, my monthly interview series where I sit down with the best, brightest, and most fascinating minds in the video game industry. I'm back with a brand-new bar/arcade set – complete with a working beer... by IGN Unfiltered
61 min listen
Episode 44: Sam Lake (Max Payne, Alan Wake, Control, Quantum Break): Longtime Remedy Entertainment writer Sam Lake sat down to discuss his unexpected career, from how helping a friend led to writing Max Payne, creating Alan Wake, the elusive Alan Wake 2, lessons learned from Quantum Break, and how it's all led to... by IGN Unfiltered
79 min listen
Episode 43: Bethesda Game Studios Director Todd Howard: Longtime Bethesda Game Studios director Todd Howard joins us to discuss his Hall of Fame career, from the Terminator first-person shooter that got him started to the incredible success of The Elder Scrolls series to the acquisition of the Fallout IP... by IGN Unfiltered
90 min listen
Episode 42: Denis Dyack: On this episode of our monthly interview show IGN Unfiltered, veteran game creator Denis Dyack talks about his wild career that started at Silicon Knights, from convincing Nintendo not to nix Eternal Darkness's sanity effects to working with... by IGN Unfiltered
73 min listen
Episode 41: Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot: Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot sits down to discuss his incredible 30+ year career at Ubisoft, from co-founding the company with his brothers to meeting a 17-year-old Michel Ancel for the first time to partnering up with Tom Clancy to why he's super... by IGN Unfiltered
59 min listen
Episode 40: Amy Hennig and Ted Price: In this special episode of our monthly interview series IGN Unfiltered, filmed at the DICE Summit in Las Vegas, game design legend Amy Hennig (Uncharted series, Legacy of Kain series) and Insomniac Games founder Ted Price (Marvel's Spider-Man, Ratchet... by IGN Unfiltered
51 min listen
Episode 39: Bonnie Ross: 343 Industries studio head and AIAS Hall of Famer Bonnie Ross discusses her entire career in this 70-minute interview, from her start on an NBA basketball game to how she came to ask for – and get – the keys to the Halo franchise, including the... by IGN Unfiltered
76 min listen
Episode 38: NBA 2K Gameplay Director Mike Wang: Longtime NBA 2K gameplay director Mike Wang discusses his fascinating career story, including getting noticed on a message board, leaving 2K for EA's NBA Live and immediately regretting it, coming back, and much more in this one-hour interview! by IGN Unfiltered
71 min listen
Episode 37: BioShock Infinite's and Underworld Ascendant's Joe Fielder: Underworld Ascendant creative director Joe Fielder has enjoyed quite a career. From starting out as a video game journalist to crossing over to game development and working with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Ken Levine (BioShock), and Warren Spector... by IGN Unfiltered
54 min listen

Discover this podcast and so much more

Episode 22: Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford

Episode 22: Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford

Description

Titles in the series (66)

More Episodes from IGN Unfiltered