The backlash to Randy Pitchford’s controversial Borderlands 4 $80 remark has leveled up, with online game publishers leaping on the bandwagon to promote their video games. In the meantime, Pitchford himself has pointed to earlier feedback he made about Borderlands 4’s value, declaring: “If you need the fact, right here it’s.”
One such writer is Devolver Digital, which has a repute for edgy advertising that usually takes benefit of scorching subjects on social media. Devolver, which is behind the likes of Hotline Miami and Cult of the Lamb, has achieved simply that with Pitchford right here.
When you’re late to the get together, Pitchford sparked a backlash by responding to a fan who expressed concern about the prospect of paying $80 for Borderlands 4 by saying: “for those who’re a actual fan, you’ll discover a method to make it occur.”
Here’s the alternate:
“Randy, this recreation higher not be 80 {dollars}. Do not take that threat, a lot of players aren’t gonna pay 80 {dollars} and feed this notion of fixed enhance of the price ticket. You are the CEO, you could have some say with the value when it comes to your writer.”
And this is Randy Pitchford’s response:
“A) Not my name. B) When you’re a actual fan, you’ll discover a method to make it occur. My native recreation retailer had Starflight for Sega Genesis for $80 in 1991 after I was simply out of highschool working minimal wage at an ice cream parlor in Pismo Seashore and I discovered a method to make it occur.”
Devolver QT’d IGN’s X / Twitter submit on this story to promote Mycopunk, its upcoming Borderlands-style mission-based co-op first-person shooter, saying: “You’re gonna give you the chance to purchase Mycopunk for you and three of your mates for the value of 1 copy of Borderlands 4.”
Pitchford himself caught wind of the tweet, and QT’d it himself, saying: “Mycopunk is cheaper than a level of meth – most likely has fewer unwanted effects, too!”
Mycopunk is cheaper than a level of meth – most likely has fewer unwanted effects, too! https://t.co/ICgEYZ7FEq
— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) May 21, 2025
As you’d anticipate, the response to that tweet has been principally destructive. “I’m going to pirate Borderlands 4,” stated one X / Twitter consumer. “Please cease. Simply apologize and transfer on. This is not truthful in your builders. When you care about them, simply do the proper factor dude,” added one other. “Randy we’re begging you to cease. BL4 had a lot hype and it’s being ruined in a day. Let folks need to like and assist the recreation and all the superb individuals who made it,” stated one commenter.
At the time of this text’s publication, Pitchford has but to retract his remark or apologize for it. However he did point to a current reply he gave on-stage at PAX East on Borderlands 4’s value, calling it: “If you need the fact, right here it’s.”
Final week, throughout a PAX East panel, Pitchford insisted that he didn’t know the Borderlands 4 value however refused to rule out $80.
“I am going to inform you the fact. I do not know. That’s the fact. I am going to hit it straight on. It’s an fascinating time,” he stated.
“On one degree, we have a aggressive market the place the those who make these decisions need to promote as many items as attainable and so they need to watch out about folks which might be price-sensitive. There are some people who don’t desire to see costs go up, even the ones deciding what the costs are.
“There’s folks accepting the actuality that recreation budgets are growing, and there is tariffs for the retail packaging. It’s getting gnarly on the market, you guys. Borderlands 4 has greater than twice the growth finances than Borderlands 3. Greater than twice. So the fact is, I do not know what the value goes to be.”
Pitchford continued: “Here’s the philosophy we have now, no matter the value is: we’re entertainers. Sure, we would like to get extra assets so we are able to increase and higher video games. There’s a cause why Borderlands 4 is so superior: it’s since you guys confirmed up and supported Borderlands 3 and we had the finances. So we may greater than double the finances and really feel assured in that. And that’s superior. When the income is available in we are able to spend it to increase and higher video games.
“As artists we would like all people to have it. We wish to make it as straightforward as attainable for everyone to take pleasure in what we’re creating. So it’s a bizarre factor. The elemental philosophy is, we would like folks to purchase it so we have now the assets to make extra, however we would like everybody who buys and performs a Gearbox recreation to really feel sure that they bought the higher finish of the cut price, no matter the value is that they bought the greatest worth. And that’s the philosophy we dwell by.
“And so we’re going to have the value set quickly. It may be the new value that Nintendo and Microsoft have led with. It may be that we keep again. It’s going to be the folks at the publishing home that determine that. And whether it is cheaper, then perhaps we’ll promote you that mini-map that you just guys need that we’ll develop later. How unhealthy would you like that? 10 bucks? I’m simply kidding… or am I?”
He concluded: “Borderlands is f***ing superb and it’s value it.”
Some social media customers have stated Pitchford’s PAX East remark would have been value pointing to in the first place, with the backlash now a vital model drawback for Borderlands 4 forward of launch.
“This was a good response and will have been left at this,” (*4*). “Your second response is receiving backlash not due to the value of the recreation however due to the wording. Each recreation is gonna be 80 {dollars} by this time subsequent yr. Nevertheless followers of Borderlands need the value to be justified due to the ambition, the ardour, and the high quality that BL4 can have. They need to be ok with the buy they’re making in a franchise they’ve liked for greater than a decade and assist the devs which have had a actual impression on their lives. This poisonous “not a actual fan” mentality is just not it and is just hurting the those who need to assist the recreation.”
Writer 2K Video games is predicted to announce the value of Borderlands 4 when pre-orders go dwell quickly. Borderlands 4 is due out September 12, 2025.
In a current interview, IGN requested Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick if the firm would go to $80 for its video games. Zelnick wouldn’t say both method, however did say customers can be “prepared to pay for the perfect.”
“I’ve stated for a very long time that we provide huge worth and that that is our job,” Zelnick stated. “After all, we actually imagine that in contrast to different types of leisure, whether or not that is film tickets or dwell occasions or streaming providers, the worth for our leisure that we provide is simply astonishing, and it is our job. It’s our job to ship way more worth than what we cost. That is our aim. We predict customers are prepared to pay for the perfect. It’s our job to make the perfect.”
Picture by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Photographs for Lionsgate. Wesley is Director, Information at IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.