It’s not only the character that levels up — the player does too.
Gearbox head Randy Pitchford has been giving interviews again, and in a recent conversation about Borderlands 4 he even delved into neuroscience.
Pitchford believes the looter‑shooter format is beneficial for the brain. The game repeatedly puts players in situations where they must decide whether to keep their current equipment or swap it for a new drop — a basic, deeply rooted need and skill of the human mind.
He explained that Gearbox distilled that need into a single, simple interface moment: when a player aims at a dropped item they immediately see its stats alongside their own gear.
According to him, this creates a “pleasant loop” and a satisfying decision-making moment — something the brain both needs to do and enjoys doing:
“The more we exercise this cognitive muscle — not just in games but in everyday life — the more we reinforce what sets our species apart: the development of language and higher-order consciousness, and the cognitive capabilities that let us analyze the world. Much of what our prefrontal cortex is for — why this adaptation exists and how it’s used — revolves around this skill and its variants.”
The process of weighing whether your current piece of gear is superior to a new drop — and the way cognitive systems balance a near‑scientific appraisal of the choice with its emotional pull — is fascinating and, he argues, inherently addictive.”
Pitchford suggested other developers may be overlooking the importance of loot grind:
“If designers attempting to make a looter‑shooter truly understood the neuroscience behind Gearbox’s decision loops, we’d see more and better competition. That hasn’t happened so far, which is surprising. Many teams launch products based on market analysis rather than a designer’s curiosity or creative intent. Often it’s driven by business motives or the desire to be something you’re not, rather than by thoughtful design.”
He also admitted he had expected a wave of Borderlands imitators after the first game’s release, and that if that surge had occurred back then the studio likely would have been unable to survive the competition.
Source: iXBT.games