In an attempt to address the backlash, Pitchford has since posted a video excerpt from an interview.

Borderlands 4 boss Randy Pitchford is in hot water after his most recent response to a fan on X (formerly Twitter). The original tweet had one Borderlands fan, @oldgoldsot post their concern about the game’s price point, hoping that it wouldn't be US$80.

Pitchford responded to the tweet saying that the price point was “not my call." He then double down by saying that “If you’re a real fan, you’ll find a way to make it happen.“

In his tweet, the Gearbox CEO shared a personal anecdote: when he was younger, a local game store had a copy of 1991 Sega Genesis space sim Starflight for sale three decades ago, and Pitchford found the money to pay for it, even though he was "just out of high school working minimum wage at an ice cream parlor."

Fans were unhappy with Randy’s response

Needless to say, Randy’s comment sparked a range of reactions, most of which skewed negative. A few users on X said that Borderlands 4 wasn’t worth US$80, while others, like X user @wtfRise, pointed out that “the cost of living has never been higher” and highlighted the issue of “stagnant wages since 2021.”

Others, like YouTube content creator Synth Potato said they weren’t willing to pay US$80 for the game, especially knowing that there would likely be “multiple season passes that cost another $100,” along with weapon skins that would probably be sold separately.

Many others, such as Robert Garrido, who identified as a “real fan,” shared that they would simply wait for the game to go on sale on Steam before buying it.

The reactions on Reddit were similar. While many expressed frustration, others, like Redditor TimBurtonsMind pointed out that there could be “enough whales” in real life for the company to break even–implying that the company may not mind losing those unwilling to pay a higher price.

Pitchford responds to the backlash

Less than 24 hours after his earlier reply, Randy posted another tweet on X, this time indirectly addressing the issue of pricing.

In his tweet, he included a segment from an interview where he was asked how much Borderlands 4 would cost.

“I'll tell you the truth, I don't know,” he said in the interview. He explained that “game budgets are increasing,” and that tariffs on retail packaging are contributing to the rising costs, describing the situation as “getting gnarly out there.” Pitchford also noted that Borderlands 4 has more than double the development budget of Borderlands 3.

“We want to make it as easy as possible for everybody to enjoy what we're creating,” he said, adding that their core philosophy is to ensure players feel like they’ve received good value. “We want people to buy it so we have the resources to make more. But we want everyone who buys and plays a Gearbox game to feel certain that they got the better end of the bargain.”

He went on to say: “Whatever the price is, [we want players to feel] that they got the best value. And that's the philosophy that we live by. So we're going to have a price set soon, and it might be the new price that Nintendo and Microsoft have led with.”

The controversy around Randy’s comments on Borderlands 4 pricing comes on the heels of another issue, where players began review-bombing all three existing Borderlands titles on Steam. This follows backlash over Take-Two’s updated End User Licence Agreement, which allegedly includes terms that could allow root-level access to users’ CPUs.