Gearbox's Pitchford: 'No Time' For Game Based On Heat Movie

In 2006, Gearbox revealed that it signed on with Regency Enterprises to create a game based on Heat, the Michael Mann-directed 1995 crime film starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Val Kilmer. Three years later, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford said the game is "nowhere," and on "indefinite hold." "In a nutshell, we're nowhere," Pitchford said in a new interview with consumer site GameSpot. "We have passionate game makers that would love to do it. We've got filmmakers that think it's a great idea that would love to see it done. We have publishing partners that would love to publish it. But we have no time. That's the limiting factor." He added, "Because of the situation, we're not keeping the IP locked down anymore. So if somebody else were in a spot where they could do it, and everybody was comfortable with that, then conceivably that could happen." The fate of a game based on Heat has been hanging in the balance for sometime. Pitchford said in 2007 he was clinging to hopes for the game's development in an interview with gaming magazine Edge, where he said, "I should consider it dead. But I refuse to." Independent developer Gearbox, known best for its Brothers In Arms World War II shooter series, has been eyes-deep in development of other projects, including a game based on the Alien movies, made popular by director Ridley Scott, and its own original property, Borderlands. The film's cult following may hold hopes that another developer would show interest in the rights to a Heat game, but to Pitchford and Gearbox, the heat is off. "I think the correct way to categorize the status of it right now is 'indefinite hold.' It's an idea there's a lot of passion and a lot of interest toward, but it's not something that's being actively pursued right now. But if there comes a time where that makes sense to actively pursue it, it would be something that I believe could happen."