No demo for Borderlands - at least not 'before launch'

by Alexander Sliwinski on Aug 20th 2009 9:30AM

The October 20 release of Gearbox's Borderlands will not be accompanied by a demo, but that doesn't mean that there won't be one. A 2K representative informs Joystiq, "Everyone is really, really focusing on getting the game done for release ... that's not to say there will never be a demo, just not before launch."

New properties typically have a hard time breaking through in the infamous fourth quarter release window, and Borderlands is certainly no exception. 2K Games' BioShock, a bit of an unknown quantity at the time, benefited from its pre-release demo, which sent buzz through the roof. Gearbox president Randy Pitchford said in a GamesCom presentation that he hopes folks will be driven to the original property through solid word of mouth.

Tags: 2k-games, borderlands, demo, fps, gamescom, gamescom-2009, Microsoft, randy-pitchford, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (52)

Nothing puts faith in a consumer like not letting them see your product!

But Batman I have faith in you even though you stick to the shadows, which is why I can never see you....

yeah but i had a demo!

Kack-Kow!

do hookers give demos?

they should, it would sure build "confidence".

"do hookers give demos?

they should, it would sure build "confidence"."

They're called girlfriends. Once they build up your confidence, next thing you know your married and you might, MIGHT, get some "confidence", oh say, twice a year.

Haha that's so true. It's a bit like the presents you always see on Ebay right after christmas. "Present from ex boyfriend, rattles"...

You have a good guess, but you never really know....

http://mrpauljames.mybrute.com

Hey PaulJames, a little advice, drop the personal links in your comments. Don't ask why, just do it.

Damn, Planet! Twice a year? I must have gotten one of the last "4 times a week" models.

The Dark Knight even had a preview on the bluray version of Batman Begins.

WREturns, you're not married to a woman who looks like 6 women duct taped together and covered in gravy are you?

That sucks..

It does..

What am I going to do? I'm going to correct your grammar, that's what I'm going to do.

The word you're looking for is "your".

I hope this isn't a testament to the current quality of the product.

Me too, maybe the trailers were lying. I was just about to pre-order this, now I'll wait.

I'm still going to purchase this game, for some reason it feels like this could be the game that Fallout could have been. Not to say Fallout wasn't great, I loved it at first, but I hope this draws me in more.

i don't think it's much of a gamble to assume this game will rock my socks. no demo means more surprises.

Easy enough. 1 less game I have to worry about buying...

This is one of those games I wanted to "try" before purchasing. Too bad they won't get my money for a little while longer.

Still getting it regardless, everyone whos played it seems to really enjoy it, big risk but good enough for me to pick it up.

Demos aren't a necessity. I often base game purchases off reviews and other word of mouth. I'm pretty interested in Borderlands, but I'd like to at least see some decent gameplay footage before I fork over the cash.

When a game has no demo to be seen then that means the game sucks and they want you to buy it so they can stamp SUCKER on your forehead. I can't think of too many great games that sold well without a demo from a unknown game.

I don't remember a little game called Halo having a demo. In fact, I don't really remember many games at all having demos until consoles started going online. PC games maybe, but for consoles it was always a "rent before you buy" setup.

@Kryhavok: Halo had a demo on pc and demo's had existed before most of the world had internet it was called cd's and dvd's and they came with magazines too! ;)

Oh, come on. The reason this isn't having a demo is the same reason Fallout 3, Fable 2, Oblivion, and GTAIV never had a demo--it's an open world game. It's hard to give the feeling of the scope and everything in a demo.

THANKYOU pete... someone finaly puts drdre out of his misery.. and kryhavok.. i think you missed drdre's (bad) point wherin he says "uknown games" ie: not blockbusters like halo..

that's a blanket statement to make. i don't recall Assassins Creed having a demo and that was a fun game that looked and played well. i'm sure there's other examples but off the top of my head right now i can't think of them.

i've seen plenty of video footage already for Borderlands that look awesome, there's a ton of previews that speak well of it, and it's a Diablo-esque FPS with RPG elements. what more do you need to know? i may wait a few days just to read a review, but i'm pretty sure this is a day one purchase for me. all this "is there's no demo the i'm not buying it" talk is a bit surprising.

Fallout 3, Fable 2, and GTA4 didn't have demos because they were big release super-hyped up games and as such didn't need demos. Those kind of games can only be hurt by demos, because the hype will move copies.

Borderlands on the other hand, while it has moderate hype, is far from the levels of those other ones and is completely overshadowed by other big releases this fall/holiday to most average consumers. This is EXACTLY the kind of game that would benefit from a demo.

The open world thing isn't really an excuse. Crackdown had a very good demo as an open world game.

@AccessGranted

Yes but Halo didn't need a PC demo unless you wanted to see how well it would run. We already knew the game was good. And getting a demo CD - once, maybe twice a year - from a magazine that you pay a subscription fee for is the same as renting. Besides, no one reads magazines anymore.

this generation is spoiled. i remember when we had to buy games that didn't even have real pictures of the graphics anywhere on the cover or back cover! you had to choose based on description and title. talk about getting suckered.

Like, a book.

yeah I know what you mean i had Batman Forever for the Genesis and that game sucked ASS

I remember those days too, wasn't as long ago as you think I'm pretty young.

...and walk up hill both ways to buy it.

What is this "Demo" you speak of?

I got mine pre-ordered, but I do wish I had a demo to pimp out to my gaming friends. Borderlands is shaping up to be my gem of the fall.

No demo = no buy

You don't need a demo to sell your game to people who have been watching it forever like me... Everything that I have seen about this game from old gameplay footage, old teaser trailers, new teaser trailers, new gameplay footage, galleries that include the hud, the enemy names, the enemy weaknesses, everything about it is just plain awesome, and I for one am buying this game on release date! ;)

You have any links to new gameplay footage? I'd really like to see how the overhauled engine plays. Only vids I can find are from 2008 and have substantially different pre-cel-shaded graphics. The new trailer looks nice and shows a little gameplay, but I'd like to see a couple solid, unedited minutes of FPRPS action.

http://www.giantbomb.com/randy-pitchford-on-borderlands/17-1098/

interview with ceo and cel shaded gameplay stuffs.

Whats the need for a demo when you get all of this: flaming midgets, a guy with a dick on his mask, a BADASS guy with a dick on his mask, ass sacka, and the list keeps going. I mean come on what else do you need.....

I feel like this could almost be them not wanting people to see their product before release. They know plenty of people will buy the game based on the hype and don't need a demo. Then, a handful of the people who were hoping for a demo will buy it anyway, just because they're anxious. Next, the demo will come out and people will hop on it. Only a certain amount of people will wait for a demo, and a smaller percent of them will actually buy the game. They'd much rather release a demo later and have a solid base of purchases.

OR, they could really just be focusing on polishing the game and it could end up being fantastic :). I guess only time will tell

Just means I won't preorder and wait for reviews or word of mouth before I purchase it. Same thing with Ghostbusters but I purchased that two days after release though and don't regret it.

I don't think it's a big deal that they will not have a demo before launch as there is a lot of work involved for creating a demo, if this game was coming out in the middle of next year. But there is a problem with not having a demo when you have a release date smacked in between Halo ODST and Modern Warfare 2...who's the genius that pinned that date?

The game will have a $10 demo that you can hold on to for 10 days before getting charged sticker price. To get this demo go to your local blockbuster the friday this game is released. Go early or it'll be gone.

Don't care, I'll still buy it.

Ya it's really really stupid they don't have a demo out pre-launch or even AT launch, but I'm still just going to go on a leap of faith and buy it.

Super dumb move to release a game in october with no demo, so many good games coming out then.

I am very much on the fence about this game. It looks pretty good, but with it due out in the middle of the annual fall gaming monsoon I think it will get passed over until spring at the earliest without a demo. For a game of such unknown quality they really aren't releasing it at a good time to go demo-less. Doing something like this in June would be acceptable, but not in October.

Infamous also had a demo and thats very open world. As far as my comment goes.. I just feel that a new game that doesn't have alot of hype behind it and its now a sequel of anything needs a demo. Trailers can be very deceiving. Haze being one. That game got alot of hype when there was nothing but trailers but as soon as that game came out people trashed it.Lair was another one with no demo that sucked once it came out. Demos should be a must for new games. Games like Madden of course doesn't need one since it has a following and people will buy it without even seeing it first.

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No demo for Borderlands - at least not 'before launch'

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