Sometimes you just gotta walk away. And this might be one of those times. Earlier this month, Gearbox co-founder and CEO Randy Pitchford replied to someone on social media about the studio’s next game, Borderlands 4, possibly receiving an $80 price tag. He said it wasn’t his call and then infamously added, “If you’re a real fan, you’ll find a way to make it happen.” This didn’t go over well with people online. A few days later, on May 22, he said he didn’t intend to sound like an asshole.
Now, a week later, he’s posted about the “real fan” comment yet again. However, this time Pitchford basically wrote an article about it, posting a 573-word tweet. In the lengthy response, he apologized for the “misunderstanding” and reiterated that he never intended to suggest people who can’t afford Borderlands 4 aren’t real fans.
Instead, he said his point was that Borderlands 4—a game that I’m still excited to play in September—costing $10 more likely won’t hurt the upcoming looter shooter, as he believes it’s great and still worth the price. And you know what, after reading this 500+ word post, I do believe him. I think Pitchford really didn’t expect his short tweet to set off a firestorm. But it did, and at this point, I’m not sure posting over and over again about it is helping. If anything, it just leads to more people learning about the original comment and, as a result, more discourse happening. He’s like Sideshow Bob stepping on rakes. Each post angers more people, making the situation worse. It’s time to put the phone down, walk away, and let the internet move on to something else. So, that’s my advice to you, Randy. Log off, dude.
Anyway, here’s the full post, lightly formatted so it is easier to read:
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.
I think my trying to short hand that using the phrase “real fans” triggered some people and I saw that it got inflated as if I was making some big statement (I wasn’t – I was just trying to help someone who I thought was sincerely worried about us and looking out for us) and I could see that it was being pressed into the idea that I was taking the audience for granted (which is a super shitty look, but it was not at all my intent and does not reflect at all how I feel).
The sincere truth is that I’m grateful that anyone likes our games and humbled that so many fans show up to enjoy and support what we do.
As an artist, I don’t want prices to go up because I want everyone to have access to what we create. I get that business is a thing and that the market and economy are driving prices up and sooner or later we’re going to have to all adapt to that so that the creative engine can make at least as much as it spends to provide us with amazing content. Whatever the case, I’m here to try to entertain people and my priority has always been to try to add some joy and happiness and creativity to the world. To whatever extent I succeed at that, I am grateful and honored and take on every effort with passion and humility.
May I recommend you consider the people who create entertainment you enjoy are actual, real people who sincerely are working to try to make cool stuff. I have dedicated my life to video games as entertainment and I have made the choice to be accessible on here. I don’t want to let edge cases ruin that for the majority of people who find value in using this medium for a positive connection, but I cannot help that there’s a part of me that doesn’t want to at least try to help those that don’t get it to gain some perspective and some dignity in how they choose to interact.
I’m not claiming I’m perfect. But I don’t deserve any less latitude than anyone else. I choose to think of others with the most amount of charity and am often surprised to discover some that jump to the worst possible way to consider a thing as doing that is just counter to my nature.