Borderlands 4 will price $70, writer 2K Video games confirmed in June. That seemingly innocuous reality was large information after the value of the upcoming looter shooter was thrust into the headlines when Gearbox growth chief Randy Pitchford sparked a backlash with a collection of controversial tweets.
The outspoken Pitchford had responded to a fan who had expressed concern in regards to the prospect of paying $80 for Borderlands 4, saying: “in the event you’re an actual fan, you’ll discover a manner to make it occur.”
A) Not my name. B) If you happen to’re an actual fan, you’ll discover a manner to make it occur. My native sport 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 manner to make it occur.
— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) May 14, 2025
Pitchford ended up having to deal with the negativity surrounding his feedback, which some steered might need harmed Borderlands 4’s possibilities of success. But this was hardly the newest drama revolving round Randy Pitchford, who typically offers the press lots to discuss each time he addresses sizzling subjects inside the online game trade.
So, in an interview with Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Gearbox mother or father firm Take-Two, forward of the corporate’s newest (and spectacular) monetary outcomes, I requested whether or not he has a mini coronary heart assault each time Pitchford tweets something.
In his response, Zelnick admitted Pitchford is usually a controversial determine, and even steered a few of his antics are deliberate, but finally he’s an enormous fan.
“I like Randy, to start with. Let me simply say that on the file,” Zelnick started. “And I like his large persona. I like his ardour and he is without doubt one of the all time nice sport makers. He additionally may be controversial at instances — generally deliberately, generally unintentionally. I nonetheless love him to loss of life.”
Some had anticipated Take-Two to comply with Nintendo’s (and at that point, Microsoft’s) lead and make the leap to $80 for Borderlands 4, which it’s now determined will maintain the road at $70. I requested Zelnick why that was the fitting determination for the looter shooter, and his response was alongside related strains to his reply to 2K’s Mafia: The Previous Nation being set at $50.
“We have all the time engaged in variable pricing and we actually need to make it possible for the buyer’s expertise of the title is that Borderlands 4 is a good, nice sport, which we imagine it’s, and that we’re providing a terrific worth at the identical time,” Zelnick stated.
Zelnick has used this kind of response to reply questions on GTA 6’s value (some imagine it will likely be $80, some as excessive as $100). “We all the time need to make it possible for we ship far more worth than no matter we cost customers, as a result of we consider the buyer’s expertise as an intersection of the factor itself and what you paid for it,” Zelnick stated, speaking typically of Take-Two’s technique.
“So we simply need to be certain that we’re all the time delivering far more worth than no matter we cost.”
Wesley is Director, Information at IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You possibly can attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.