Gearbox Entertainment has won Tech Titans’ 2021 Corporate Innovation Award for the Borderlands 3 minigame, Borderlands Science. In April 2020 Borderlands 3 – a big budget, FPS, looter-shooter that sold around 14 million copies – introduced a brand-new machine that allows players to complete levels in a minigame that helps real-life scientists with research. The Borderlands 3 puzzle minigame has players shifting many blocks between rows and columns in order to solve it.
Borderlands Science has players solve puzzles that look like a normal minigame, but underneath it does a lot more. Players and blocks represent nucleotides and fragments of microbial 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences, contributed and sequenced by a platform called the American Gut Project. The goal of Borderlands Science is to help AI when organizing sequences in mass numbers, helping medical researchers map the human gut biome. It is just the latest example of Gearbox’s attempts to push boundaries between games and science within gameplay from titles like Borderlands.
As revealed in a press release from Gearbox Software, the Borderlands 3 minigame and its president Randy Pitchford were awarded Tech Titans’ 2021 Corporate Innovation Award and Corporate CEO Award, respectively. Tech Titans recognized the Borderlands Science minigame, crediting it for “helping medical researchers map the human gut biome,” and noting it as “just the latest example of Gearbox’s efforts to push the boundaries of entertainment over the last 25 years.” Meanwhile, Pitchford was praised for “leading Gearbox through a groundbreaking year both creatively and financially.” The awards were presented by The Technology Association of North Texas. In a statement, Pitchford said the following:
“These awards are a credit to the talent, work ethic, and creativity of every single member of the Gearbox family, from Frisco to Quebec. Thank you to The Technology Association of North Texas — we are proud to be a part of this region’s thriving tech and entertainment sectors, and your recognition will only push us to continue chasing our mission of entertaining the world.”
In February 2021, Gearbox completed a $1.3 million merger with Embracer Group, based in Sweden. With added resources, Gearbox announced the opening of a new studio in Montréal, Quebec, later that year. The Borderlands franchise is still a huge success, and opening a new studio in a brand-new location creates a lot of opportunities. Gearbox is currently working on the upcoming Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, a Borderlands spin-off fantasy game launching in March this year.
While Gearbox has steadily been releasing new character, story, and gameplay details on Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, it’s not yet clear if the game will contain similar innovations to the Borderlands Science minigame seen in Borderlands 3. It is not an easy task to create a gaming experience that offers rewarding milestones, immersive gameplay, and a memorable world, while also helping to further scientific research and developments in real life. Gearbox’s award-winning minigame demonstrates that science can be fun for everyone, and it’s possible even more accolades could come from Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands gameplay later this year.
Source: Gearbox Software
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