Gearbox CEO's $80 Borderlands 4 controversy has even some of the series' biggest fans distancing themselves: "Absolute lose-lose situation for him"

A screenshot shows the Siren Vex standing in Borderlands 4 — (Image credit: Gearbox Software)

Even some of the Borderlands series' biggest fans are struggling to defend Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford's comments about a potential Borderlands 4 $80 price tag.

Last week, Pitchford claimed that while he wasn't in control of the Borderlands 4 price, "real fans" would find a way to afford it, even if it came out at $80. Those comments have been widely criticized - and Pitchford himself has attempted to set the record straight - but the extent of the damage they've done is enough that even some of the series' biggest fans are feeling wary.

YouTuber and streamer dammit2hell, who was part of Gearbox's 'Borderlands Stream Team' for the launch of Borderlands 3, said that Pitchford's comments were "tone deaf" and "driving off the people that were excited for the game." Another YouTuber, Mischief, quoted Pitchford's original tweet, saying "Borderlands 4 went from a guaranteed purchase for me to something I'm not remotely interested in." Elsewhere, Borderlands content creator Cashew pointed out Steam reviews that are adding to the Borderlands series' ongoing review-bombing by directly quoting Pitchford's recent words.

Gearbox: "Borderlands 4 is going to be absolutely amazing!"Also Gearbox: "WHY is Randy at the keyboard?!?"Saying if you're real fans you'll pay what the game costs in the current climate is tone deaf & you're driving off the people that were excited for the game. https://t.co/J31ezaGqywMay 21, 2025

EpicNNG, a fan so dedicated that they've recently been trying to bring back the Borderlands series' defunct Chinese MMO, also criticized Pitchford, saying the the "best course of action is for Randy to apologize," and that it's "not fair on the devs to fuck BL4's hype like this." They also pointed out that "either the game drops at 80 dollars and people are outraged, or the game drops at the normal price and he caused a major PR shitshow for no reason. Absolute lose-lose situation for him."

The worst part about the Randy situation is that either the game drops at 80 dollars and people are outraged, or the game drops at the normal price and he caused a major PR shitshow for no reasonabsolute lose lose situation for him. Stay offline dude.May 20, 2025

Criticism of Pitchford has been far reaching, with one Baldur's Gate 3 dev saying his outlook is "gross" for ignoring people's day-to-day needs.

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I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for news, shaping the news strategy across the team. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.

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