Pitchford’s controversial statement came in the form of an X post (formerly Twitter). The CEO celebrated Borderlands 4‘s Switch 2 compatability, prompting one user to ask about the Borderlands installment’s price tag. Pitchford replied, saying, “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.”
Unsurprisingly, Pitchford’s comments were met with fan outrage and concern, intensified by rising prices across the industry.
In a later post, Pitchford called the social media platform “wild,” citing criticism from fans.
User Anthony Mirage replied, saying, “I saw something crazy too. A CEO of Gearbox Software made players feel bad and alienated them for not wanting to pay $80 for his game. This platform IS wild.”
Pitchford responded, this time with a (very) lengthy apology:
“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 … 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 … 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.”
Pitchford post stresses that he doesn’t control publishing or have control over pricing. Still, if Pitchford had used these explanations before, fans might have chosen a different approach.
Pitchford is no stranger to controversy, but his latest comments only amplify gamers’ existing cost concerns.
What are your thoughts on the $80 price tag?
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