Gearbox-developed Call of Duty game could have happened at one time

Imagine, if you will, the idea of a Gearbox-developed Call of Duty game. Mull it around in your head for a minute. Does it sound good to you? Maybe? Well, at one time, both Gearbox and Activision contemplated the idea, but nothing came of it.

Speaking with German website Krawall (via IGN), Gearbox president Randy Pitchford said the only way the team would have take on a Call of Duty was if one of two scenarios presented itself.

"For me, there are two scenarios for which a Gearbox project makes sense," he said. "First, when the game just wouldn't have existed without us. Or second, when we could offer something new for an existing brand, a unique perspective or a new start." Pitchford says that wasn't the case in this scenario. I just didn't see what there was left to accomplish.

"I think, if you want to give people the Call of Duty that they want, you have to play by the rules of the series. You have to do what is expected of a Call of Duty game. I don't see that as a real challenge for us. It wouldn't further build our reputation as a studio and wouldn't really be that motivating for our team."

Pitchford went on to say that the series wasn't "for us," clarifying that his studio's opinion was "a very individual thing and shouldn't come across as condescending."

He clarified further to IGN that in the end, there was never an "official proposal or refusal" from either Gearbox or Activision regarding development of a Call of Duty title.

If wishes were horses, etc.