Gearbox Publishing Working on Family-Oriented “Tent-pole” Franchise

Gearbox Publishing John Vignocchi

Gearbox has a reputation for more adult franchises. Everything from Borderlands to Duke Nukem to Brothers in Arms, even the Gearbox-published We Happy Few are not suited for children as all are rated M. With recent moves, the publishing wing of the company could be looking to change that image. Midway and Disney Interactive alum John Vignocchi took to Twitter to announced that he is the new executive producer at Gearbox Publishing. He stated that he’d be heading up a “tent-pole franchise” that delight gamers of all ages.

It should be noted that the new franchise is firmly under Gearbox Publishing. The Gearbox development team is hard at work on their its game, with all signs pointing to Borderlands 3. The Gearbox Publishing team is responsible for We Happy Few most recently. They’ve specialized in the console releases for games like Hello Neighbor, The Banner Saga, and Subnautica.

The company also initially published Fortnite at retail. This was before the battle royale mode of the game became known as Fornite made its debut. The tower defense portion on these initial discs became known as Fortnite: Save the World. With this new announcement, it seems like Gearbox will be handling even the PC release, as the name of the franchise is in the dark. However, that’s not clear at this time.

Outside of podcast appearances, John Vignocchi is most famous for being the face of Disney Infinity. Disney’s Toys to Life initiative brought Mickey Mouse, Darth Vader, and Spider-Man together under one roof. It was released in three iterations before its sudden cancellation in 2016, leaving several unfinished tie-in projects in its wake. Before Disney, Vignocchi worked at Midway on games such as NBA Ballers. With his new role of Executive Producer, he will be putting his Disney experience to good use and bringing a family-friendly vibe to his new home.