Take-Two Boss Says Borderlands’ Last-Minute Art Style Change Cost $50 Million, but Without It the Game Would Have Flopped
Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has revealed that Borderlands’ eleventh-hour art style overhaul cost the publisher an additional $50 million in development expenses and delayed the game’s release by a full year. However, Zelnick emphasized that without this controversial change, the franchise would have likely failed commercially.
In an interview discussing his career, Zelnick described the decision to greenlight the last-minute art direction shift as “non-obvious” and noted that few others would have authorized the extra expenditure. Despite the substantial financial burden, his confidence in the development team ultimately paid off, as the art style change contributed to Borderlands becoming a successful and profitable franchise.
The decision was made during a challenging period for Take-Two, shortly after Zelnick assumed leadership of the company in 2007. At that time, the publisher had limited capital available, making the $50 million additional investment a significant risk. Zelnick’s willingness to back the creative vision proved instrumental in transforming Borderlands into the hit franchise it became, demonstrating the importance of strategic creative investment even during financially constrained periods.