Gearbox is cooking something new – Project 1v1

The developers of Borderlands and Brothers in Arms, Gearbox Software, seem to be creating something new and a little bit weird. There has been no official press statement, but something called “Project 1v1” is making the rounds among the fans, as a part of a closed technical test.

Gearbox is developing something that they call a “competitive first-person shooter that combines the action of a fast-paced 1v1 first-person combat with the metagame strategy of a collectible card game.” If that confused you in any way – you are not the only one. If it interested you – there is an option to sign up for the closed beta on the Gearbox’s website. You will need to have a Steam account for this.

As far as what the game is about and how it would work, the information is slim. There is talk of three modes. Arena, with one player taking on challengers until they lose and someone else becomes the Champion who has to fight off the upcoming opponents. Challenge is just playing against your friends, without any ranking going on. Ranked mode means playing against players of similar skill, in order to get experience and new cards.

There are no images from the game or video materials, not even a teaser, as we have gotten used to when showing off new material. It would appear Gearbox wants to go under a radar until they have more to show for, which is a sentiment most of us could get behind. On the other hand, we want to know how on Earth you combine a shooter and a card game!