Borderlands 4 boss Randy Pitchford seems to think no price is too high for “real fans”. Video games are a very expensive hobby, despite attempts to make it more affordable and accessible through services like Xbox Game Pass. Games have always been pretty expensive both because of the cost of entry with a console or PC, but also the games themselves are pricey. It’s something that can trump all other hobbies in terms of finances, but they also provide lots of value typically. Games can be played for many, many years and there’s nothing better than rolling credits on an all-timer like Red Dead Redemption 2.
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However, the cost of gaming is becoming pretty unsustainable. Nintendo announced that it would be charging $80 for select Nintendo Switch 2 games such as Mario Kart World. This comes just five years after game prices went up from $60 to $70. While there are some games that still choose to price themselves at $60 or even less in the case of Mafia: The Old Country, this is the general standard for a new AAA game. It didn’t take long for Xbox to follow Nintendo’s lead by raising prices on not just games, but consoles and accessories as well. Future Xbox first-party games will also cost $80, though Xbox Game Pass remains a good counter to this. Fans are waiting for PlayStation to pull the trigger on this as well, but it has yet to happen.
Borderlands 4 Boss Creates Backlash After Saying “Real Fans” Will Pay $80 for Games
As we look to the future, many are wondering which games will take on that $80 price point. As of right now, it seems like some publishers are waiting to announce pricing on some fall releases until they see how other games perform. The highly anticipated Borderlands 4, for example, doesn’t seem to have any kind of pricing locked in yet as pre-orders aren’t being taken. A fan asked Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford not to make Borderlands 4 an $80 game and of course, in typical Pitchford fashion, he didn’t give a very PR-y statement. He told the fan that “real fans” would pay $80 for Borderlands 4, which caused a boatload of backlash. Pitchford noted that he found ways to buy games as a kid despite making minimum wage, which feels a bit out of touch given the economic conditions of the world right now.
Perhaps just as notable, Pitchford stated that it’s not his decision on how games are priced. He’s the CEO of Gearbox so, surely he has some sort of say, but it may come down to parent company and publisher Take-Two Interactive. Take-Two’s CEO Strauss Zelnick noted they aren’t committing to $80 games for everything and are taking the variable pricing approach, as seen with Mafia. It’s entirely possible that Borderlands 4 will come in at $70, but there’s no telling right now. We will likely find out sometime this summer as Borderlands 4 is releasing in early September, so pre-orders likely aren’t too far away.
Given a new Xbox Series X costs $600 and a game can cost $80, it feels like telling fans that they should just work harder to pay more for a game or cough up the cash to show how loyal they are is strange. Only time will tell if Pitchford will walk these comments back or if he will double down if the game costs $80.
Borderlands 4 releases on September 12th for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.
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