The then founder of 2K Games, Christoph Hartmann revealed he actually let his pet pug, Sissi, decide the cover for the critically accalimed Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel.
The news comes through a GameSpot interview with the founder, now head of Amazon’s video game division, where he said the team, under heavy pressure, placed 40 different mock-ups on the floor of their office and let Sissi walk around and pick one herself.
“We’re like, ‘What?’ We’ve been working so hard, our blood pressure is so high. We’re like, ‘Okay, funny joke, haha, now let’s get down to business.’ He’s like, ‘No, we’re doing this,;” Matt Gorman, one of 2K’s earliest employees, recalled. “And so we all just looked at each other, and we’re like, ‘Holy cow! We’ve all gone insane.’”
Sussi eventually plopped down on the iconic cover featuring the series’ main protagonists floating around in space, the legendary cover seen by millions of people.
Siss the pug ultimately settled on this art for Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel.
“Sissi walks out, she sits on one, and it wasn’t a bad one, but we were like, ‘Are we really choosing the key art for this next big brand by where this pug sits?’” Gorman recalled. “And we got to the point, and [Hartmann] goes, “That’s it!” And we all just said, ‘Okay,’ and we gathered up all the pieces and started toward the door, and [Hartmann] goes, ‘You know I’m f***ing with you guys, right?’”
Hartmann left the company back in 2017 after having founded and worked on it for more than a decade — even working with Take-Two prior to his ventures with 2K Gmaes, helping publish the BioShock, Borderlands, Civilization, and more franchises.
He is now running Amazon’s video game business with the aim of creating the “Disney of the future.”
Click here for our original review of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, also check out our coverage on the soon to be released New Tales from the Borderlands, including a new 18-minute long gameplay video.
Diego Ramos Bechara is a Freelance Writer for IGN, and he’s a fan of all things Star Wars, Rockstar, Naughty Dog and Batman.
You can follow him on Twitter @DRamosBechara.