Randy Pitchford and his "big personality" may have caused Gearbox some controversy with all that $80 Borderlands 4 banter, but his boss wouldn't have it any other way: "I still love him to death"

It's often been said that there's no such thing as bad publicity, but it's easy to wonder if that's a sentiment Take-Two Interactive boss Strauss Zelnick readily agrees with these days. The parent company of developer Gearbox Software is, after all, preparing to support the launch of Borderlands 4 on September 12 – a key property for the company following the delay of GTA 6 into 2026.

The thing is, just as Borderlands 4 should have been taking a victory lap it became embroiled in controversy over the summer – thanks in no small part to Gearbox development chief Randy Pitchford's tendency to go a little rogue on social media. "If you're a real fan, you'll find a way to make it happen," were the infamous words Pitchford chose to use when debating with a player online over the supposed $80 price point for the upcoming first-person looter-shooter.

In the months since this interaction, publisher 2K Games dropped the price back to $70 and Pitchford went to great lengths to address the controversy he helped stir up. So, what does Zelnick make of all the noise surrounding Borderlands 4 and its outspoken creator?

"I love Randy, first of all. Let me just say that on the record,” says Zelnick in an interview with IGN. "And I love his big personality. I love his passion and he is one of the all time great game makers. He also can be controversial at times – sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally. I still love him to death."

Given the enduring legacy and popularity of the Borderlands franchise, I can't say I'm all that surprised to see Zelnick throwing his support behind Randy "big personality" Pitchford. We'll never know if the BL4 would have truly been worth $80, as he once attested, although it's clear from my first Borderlands 4 hands-on preview that Gearbox is certainly taking some big swings this time around.

As for the pricing drama itself, Zelnick is unwilling to commit to any standard across his business.

Borderlands 4 screenshot — (Image credit: 2K Games)

This comes as Mafia: The Old Country lands this week at a $50 pricepoint, and as rumors and industry analysts point to the chance that GTA 6 could launch at $100 when it lands for PS5 and Xbox Series X on May 26, 2026.

"We've always engaged in variable pricing and we really want to make sure that the consumer's experience of the title is that Borderlands 4 is a great, great game, which we believe it is, and that we're offering a terrific value at the same time," Zelnick told IGN.

With Borderlands 4 set to land on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X on September 12, 2025, we certainly don't have long to find out now if Zelnick's assertions are right on the money.

Check out our new games of 2025 release schedule to get details on other key games coming this year.

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Josh West is Editor-in-Chief of GamesRadar+. He has over 18 years of experience in both online and print journalism, and was awarded a BA (Hons) in Journalism and Feature Writing. Josh has contributed to world-leading gaming, entertainment, tech, music, and comics brands, including games™, Edge, Retro Gamer, SFX, 3D Artist, Metal Hammer, and Newsarama. In addition, Josh has edited and written books for Hachette and Scholastic, and worked across the Future Games Show as an Assistant Producer. He specializes in video games and entertainment coverage, and has provided expert comment for outlets like the BBC and ITV. In his spare time, Josh likes to play FPS games and RPGs, practice the bass guitar, and reminisce about the film and TV sets he worked on as a child actor.

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