Gearbox Could Have Created Heat Video Game

Fans of heist movies and high-powered weaponry might soon have something to celebrate after suggestions that developer Gearbox has the rights to create a video game based on Heat movie, starring Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino.

Randy Pitchford, who is the leader of the development team at Gearbox, has told GameInformer that, “I did a deal with New Regency and Michael Mann for Heat. I think there needs to be a good heist game. I don’t think there really is one. There have been people that have made some attempts.”

He added, “Most heist stories in passive entertainment, like television and film, are usually about the elaborate plan and, if it goes well, there’s actually the absence of conflict. Heat had hockey masks and AK 47s, and that was a reasonable strategy, in that one case, to go at it face first.”

Pitchford says that he has not checked on the rights for some time and there’s a possibility that it has expired.

At the exact time when Heat was getting into theaters, Gearbox was working on other video games and the company hasn’t had the time to explore the license in depth.

Pitchford says that some video games tried to integrate some of the elements of the Heat experience, pointing mainly to Kane & Lynch and some of the missions that Rockstar has created for Grand Theft Auto IV.

But he feels that none of the games has managed to get everything that the movie had to offer, like the tension behind the characters that were involved in the heist.

Pitchford also revealed that his studio was thinking about video games linked to Blade Runner and Sin City, although no concrete steps have been taken to acquire the rights to them.

At the moment Gearbox is working with publisher SEGA to create Aliens: Colonial Marines, which should be launched on the PC, the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 during the fall of this year.