During E3 2011, we sat down with Gearbox Software's president and co-founder Randy Pitchford, and vice-president Steve Gibson. Their team out of Plano, Texas has been hard at work developing several simultaneous projects; including but not limited to, Duke Nukem Forever, Aliens: Colonial Marines and Brothers in Arms: Furious 4. Randy and Steve shared with us how they manage this workload, how Gearbox's culture has changed as a result, what's going into Aliens: Colonial Marines, and more. Enjoy.
Randy: "I am sorry there was a misunderstanding. The absolute sincere truth is that I don’t want anyone to pay any more than they should or are comfortable with and I always work with the intent and hope that a customer always feels they got the better end of the deal no matter what they pay. The actual context was that a guy replied to a post about Borderlands 4 on the Nintendo Switch 2 was warning me that if the price ends up being $80, the game will fail. What I was trying to do was explain that it wasn’t my call but that if a $10 price increase does happen (since that’s obviously where the industry is going), it will be okay and that Borderlands 4 will be okay because it’s a great game and there are a lot of fans who will see the value and want it."
It will sell well because it’s Borderlands, but I’m not getting it Day 1 now. I’ll happily wait and buy something else.
He just had to open his mouth, I don’t know why they don’t see how much of a PR disaster he is.
Makes me wonder why people like this lead games and franchises that are beloved. Dude just needs to shut up and never speak their opinions on social media lol. Just chill and enjoy your life with the 7 figure salary you get bud.
There's nothing to buy because there's no apology here except for how WE "misunderstood" what he so clearly typed out.
Yea like we’re just dumb consumers that don’t understand PR damage control. Hey Randy, if you cared about the fans you’d fight against this stupid price hike… oh wait…
Randy writes: "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."
I will be doing what I always do and wait for a sale or buy used on Facebook marketplace.
I haven't paid full price since Metal Gear Solid 2 back in 2001.
Paid $250 for Clannad on Switch. A 25 year old visual novel, lol. Although it was the Collector's Edition from LRG.
To be fair it isn't his call, if Take 2 comes out and say Borderlands 4 and GTA will be $80, there is literally 0 Randy can do about it
Totally wrong response. It would be better to explain that for the product they are producing, they feel this price is fair to both gamers and developers,writers and staff. Explain that they don't have an enormous exectuive or publishing overhead. And then find a way to give content away for free to add value to the purchase. Even if later DLC is paid, the game should include on or two free DLC packs.
Borderlands 3 was enough reason for me to be skeptical. His comment guarantees I won't buy the game.
Real fan? What the actual f*** man
Does he actually read back what he writes before he posts
I was the biggest BL fan. I played the original solo for so many times. I pre ordered BL2 that loot chest edition and loved it. I bought BL3 on sale and never even touched it's DlC and have very little interest in 4th. For a series that started so strong it's just amazing how much nonsense this series has become with idiot choices
It is amazing how similar my story is to yours.
Many of us bought Borderlands 3 out of a sense of nostalgia for how much we enjoyed Borderlands 2 (which is, to this day, a great game). But despite buying everything Borderlands have released, the last time I wasn't disappointed by something they produced was the Tiny Tina DLC for Borderlands 2. That was over a decade ago...
Toxic
It truly is sad what this company has become. BL went from one of my favorite games to now I don't even care that a 4th is coming out. I will pick it up when 4th one has a complete edition with all the dlc and patches for under $30
I can't believe 2k kept randy in his post even after the acquisition since he is pure negative PR for the studio and it's games. Don't get me wrong randy gave part of the company to long time employees when embracer bought them originally so I guess he has some good in him because he made bunch of people millionaires at employee level. I just wish he would stop saying all the other nonsense
He’s a scumbag. Check out his personal history unless it’s been scrubbed from the internet (as well as his hard drive). Don’t know how this guy has survived in the industry so long. He’s a slimy lying scumbag. Not to be trusted and shouldnt be given the time of day. Don’t know why anyone would buy anything he touches!
herez a little magic trick Randy boy i wont buy it if its 80 dollars.
cause that means its gonna be more expensive for euro land.
i am a fan, but i like my money more. ha
Gearbox CEO defends Borderlands 4 against fan criticism, urging players to "cheer and root for us" to get the best game possible.
No offense but I feel like gamers on the internet are overly pessimistic. I took it to be a positive energy affirmation.
In real life when I talk to gamers we get excited for games. Online it's just so polarized and depressing. Online people look for things to hate or be mad at. It's so twisted and it doesn't reflect the spirit I get from gaming.
@Eonjay
I don't get this, of course people are cynical and pessimistic these days, the industry has turned to s**t with greed, lies and false promises.
I'd get your point if we were still in the golden days where nothing much happened but we've had so much thrown at us of course people are worn day and sceptical
The guy who's saying this in the article is Randy Pitchford man, he's a complete sleaze bag, what do you want people to do, take his word for it and look on the bright side where there's nothing but sunshine and rainbows?
People who complain about all the negativity should blame the industry and the issues within it, not the gamers who are only like this because of what we've had to go through the past 15 years or so.
Here is the fun part, they have not even released a full gameplay and yet people are crying. If you want to critique the game, at least wait for a gameplay walk through. Most of the people I have seen crying or complaining, have been about the looks of the characters. Which tells me they more than don't know the game has customization and are just crying because, they saw something they didn't like.
But it's just much more easier to complain and cry than it is to wait and see for yourself
@DarkWingDody
Can you send me a link of this gameplay walk through. They might have released it in whatever made up world you come from, but I am still waiting for it, thanks in Advance. If a 1 minute trailer is what you call a gameplay walk through and now crying about it. I can understand why some gamers are so miserable. See a few seconds of a trailer and then start crying. Why wait for a gameplay walk through that would contain a sizeable amount of content, when you can start crying over a minute long trailer. Awesome times.
You were spot on in regards to critiquing. No matter what you put out there you better be ready to be critiqued. They shouldn't have shown anything if they weren't ready. They're in the wrong business if they can't handle that.
There was nothing shown to differentiate this one from part 3 in my humble opinion. I'll wait for full release but it just looks like more of the same.
That and/or we are going to release an unfinished game, but don’t worry if you support us we will fix it eventually.
Or, maybe it's because gamers are morons and would rather complain and wish for bad games and failures.
Idk why I’m not a bigger fan of borderland series.
I never buy it, but when I do play it like (subscription) I have a good ass time.
I'm happy either way if it flops take two share prices stumble making it a good time to snap up shares before GTA vi and if it's great then I get a great game unlike 3
So it's a win win
Yeah cause the stock market hasn’t already ‘priced in’ gta 6 into the ttwo price. SMH.
It’s the only game that makes them money anymore. They are just playing it safe. No innovation in the series.
You could have shown me borderlands 4 gameplay and told me it was borderlands 3 and I would have believed you…
Always wait for Gearbox.