Randy Pitchford has responded to the backlash surrounding his controversial tweet about Borderlands 4's potential $80 price tag, where he suggested that "real fans" would find a way to pay. The tweet, which was fed into a Handsome Jack AI and shared by streamer Moxsy, sparked significant negative feedback from the gaming community.
Here's the original exchange:
"Randy, this game better not be 80 dollars. Don't take that risk, a lot of gamers aren't gonna pay 80 dollars and feed this notion of constant increase of the price tag. You are the CEO, you have some say with the price when it comes to your publisher."
And Pitchford's response:
"A) Not my call. B) If you’re a real fan, you’ll find a way to make it happen. My local game store had Starflight for Sega Genesis for $80 in 1991 when I was just out of high school working minimum wage at an ice cream parlor in Pismo Beach and I found a way to make it happen."
The response to Pitchford’s tweet was overwhelmingly negative. Comments ranged from threats to pirate the game to pleas for him to apologize and focus on the developers' hard work. One user stated, "I am going to pirate Borderlands 4," while another implored, "Please stop. Just apologize and move on. This isn't fair on your developers. If you care about them, just do the right thing dude." A third commenter expressed frustration, saying, "Randy we are begging you to stop. BL4 had so much hype and it’s being ruined in a day. Let people want to like and support the game and all the amazing people who made it."
Although Pitchford has not issued a direct apology, he referenced a previous statement made at PAX East about the game's price, saying, "If you want the truth, here it is."
The situation escalated when Moxsy shared the Handsome Jack AI's response to Pitchford's tweet, which humorously mocked the notion of spending $80 on a game:
Ohhh boo-hoo, $80 for Borderlands 4? Let me break out the world’s tiniest violin—crafted from Eridium and oiled with the tears of whiny Vault Hunters.
Listen, cupcake, you’re not buying a game. You’re investing in a premium, galaxy-shattering experience personally engineered to blast your sad little dopamine receptors into orbit. You think quality loot and chaotic mayhem just code itself? You want guns that sprout legs, sing sea shanties, and explode into loot goblins without paying top dollar? Grow up.
Back in my day, I built an entire moonbase with my own two hands (and a metric ton of disposable Hyperion interns), and you’re crying about spending a few bucks more to virtually murder skags with style? Puh-lease.
But hey, if $80 is too steep, there’s always a solution: just don’t buy it. More legendary drops for the rest of us, and fewer mouth-breathing freeloaders clogging up my loot pools. Win-win.
Stay broke, hero.
•Handsome Jack President of the Galaxy, CEO of Hyperion, and your personal nightmare
In response to the AI's output, Pitchford tweeted, "Boy howdy, JackGPT, is that how I sound? My bad, but cheers to Duke_Newcombe and @MoxsyOG for the funniest thing I’m going to read today!"
He then added a more serious note: "In seriousness though, nobody likes being taken for granted and it was not my intent. I’m humbled by the love and support everyone has shown the team as we push hard to get this amazing game in your hands. They’re crushing it, and I can’t wait for everyone to play what’s going to be the best Borderlands ever! Regardless of where the price lands, it’s going to be worth it and then some. Back to work for me!"
Randy Pitchford: "Back to work for me!" Photo by Monica Schipper/WireImage.
Pitchford seems eager to move past the controversy, but the debate over Borderlands 4's price is likely to resurface when pre-orders begin. At that time, publisher 2K Games will need to announce the official price, whether it's $80, $70, or another amount, and it will undoubtedly be a significant topic of discussion given the current context.
