from alyaza@beehaw.org to gaming@beehaw.org on 20 May 15:12
https://beehaw.org/post/20104986
The video game industry has made the jump to $80, first with Nintendo and Mario Kart World, then with Microsoft and its price hike announcement that will kick in this holiday season. Could Borderlands 4 follow suit?
Publisher 2K Games and parent company Take-Two have so-far remained vague on whether they will go to $80, and Randy Pitchford has insisted the decision is out of his control. But, responding to one concerned fan on social media, Pitchford set the cat among the pigeons by saying that if you’re a “real fan, you’ll find a way to make it happen.”
Here’s the exchange:
“Randy, this game better not be 80 dollars. Don’t take that risk, a lot of gamers aren’t gonna pay 80 dollars and feed this notion of constant increase of the price tag. You are the CEO, you have some say with the price when it comes to your publisher.”
And here’s Randy Pitchford’s response:
“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.”
As you’d expect, Pitchford’s comment has sparked a vociferous response.
threaded - newest
Careful what you wish for, Randy. 🏴☠️
Just putting this out there: wouldn’t a multiplayer-focused game like Borderlands be relatively shielded from the lads out on the high seas? Sure fitgirl could hook you up for a single-player campaign, but who tf wants to play Borderlands solo?
I’ve only ever played borderlands solo…
you have a mental fortitude i cannot imagine. getting all those sewer-tier jokes pure, uncut, while holding down L2+R2 for 30 hours…I thought they banned that sort of thing in the Geneva Conventions
Ah, you’ve played endgame Salvador I see
Imagine playing Borderlands with a controller…
Uh why the fuck would I want to play with other people?
Have to wait a year or so for Denuvo to be removed.
Free marketing for a game you would have prolly missed
The Borderlands franchise is really past its prime at this point, anyway. I’ve got absolutely no issue skipping this one. Might pick it up when it’s on sale for $10 in a few years. The franchise really peaked with BL2; it’s been down hill since.
That creepy dude is still at Gearbox?
People like this guy are completely fucking deluded.
.
Same here. I refuse to do it. Even for a game I’ve been really eagerly anticipating. I’ll wait a few months for even a small sale now. Usually a good amount of bugs have been patched out by then anyway.
Haha nope
I’ll just wait until Black Friday. Thanks Randy.
You know, I’m not a real fan. I don’t want to pay even more for this expensive games, I’m certainly not going to for Borderlands.
"If you don't like the price hike, that's a you problem."
I’m not a real fan.
No way this kind of disconnected-from-the-users attitude will backfire. This game is sure to be a great experience! /s
Borderlands 3 felt like getting mugged by Randy Pitchford for 20 hours. I’m not a real fan.
I’ve only ever bought the first one, got the rest for free. I generally like the gun play idea but my interest always fizzles out due to the ‘humor’ and getting caught in a too high level well… Level and deciding to give up.
Good thing I’m not a real fan.
Yarrrr this be very true, if ye be a real fan and really want te play somethin then you’ll make it happen
🦜 🦜 🏴☠️🏴☠️🏴☠️🦜🦜
If you wanted me to be a fan, you’d find a way to make it cost less.
If he loses enough fans, he will have to blow himself.
The way is piracy
I refuse to pay $80 for a game and Borderlands fell off after the second one, so good luck with that. $70 was also a bridge too far for 99% of games (I made the exception for gems like Elden Ring).
Get fucked, Randy.
Guess I’m not a real fan then.
Hope y’all enjoy the video game crash of 2026
Randy is really goofy, lol.
Whatever. I’ll do what any good PC gamer does and buy if it goes on sale for a 90% discount in a decade. Or I just won’t buy it because I’ll be too busy repairing my shanty/house boat. We’ll see how things shake out
If it’s even a game good, as a patient game, I can wait a year or more when it’s $30. More AAA titles than ever are overpriced garbage anyway.
I don’t know how Randy manages it.
There’s so much competition these days, yet somehow his crack team of developers manage to keep him at number one in the list of “Biggest Cunts in Gaming”.
It’s honestly impressive. I had no intention of buying this because I think his games are all wank, but fuck him anyway.
Come on man. With Peter Molyneuix and Jay Wilson (Launch D3) still alive? I’ll agree top 5 but man competition is stiff for the #1 spot nowadays.
Peter doesn’t release big budget games anymore, does he? And if he does, do they still let him do promo material?
Does Randy even realize how much the industry’s landscape has changed ?
First of all you’re in competition with your older games. BDL1 and 2 had soul and were good. BDL 3 is still ok (no idea about the pre-sequel but I heard it was the beginning of the downwards trend). Not to mention the literal hundreds (even thousands for some of us) of other good games sitting in our libraries. And the indie bangers consistently proving that we don’t need to pay 80$ and download a 200 Go day one patch to enjoy the medium in 2025. I hope this bankrupts Gearbox at this point.
If you anger him, Randy might send you to the COD mines.
Lol. I wasn’t going to be paying full price for a game anyway, but now I’m not paying for gearbox games ever again.
🏴☠️ it is then.
Exactly, you will find a way to make it happen
I don’t know about you all, but I’m looking forward to checking out all the games I’ve missed in the past 20 years.
The classic CEO fanfic… They also learn everything they need to be a successful businessman by selling lemonade in a stall
You just ask for 🏴☠️ at this point.
I mean, he seems out of touch, sure, but what’s the fanfic?
Cause shit was a lot easier with disposable income in 1991. Source: Had more disposable income with a “regular job” in 1991.
Is there anything to back that up?
With inflation, that would be pushing $160…
From what I found, the minimum wage in California (where Pismo Beach is) in 1991 was $4.25/hour. If he worked 20 hours a week, that’s $340/month before taxes. He almost certainly would’ve been a student at the time since he would’ve been 20 that year. I don’t know what funding he would’ve had, but it honestly sounds doable for 1991
And today they’d be making $1320/month before taxes. Shouldn’t it be easier to afford that $80 purchase now than it was then?
Not to mention Randy didn’t have the same alternative high quality games to buy for way less than $80 back then. The price of top games was the price, now there is so much good stuff for less. Why should we pay $80 for yet another borderlands?
His father worked for the U.S. Intelligence as an engineer, I really doubt he had any financial problem that the “I found a way to make it happen.” is anything different them “I asked for daddy’s money”
TBH this sounds like more of a fanfic to me. Or haterfic I guess.
Did they fix borderlands 3 yet? It came on game pass and it turns out it’s impossible to play for more than 15 minutes without resetting the game and doing it from the last checkpoint. I won’t be playing 4 until I complete 3, and I won’t be completing 3 until it’s fixed.
Fuck Randy Pitchford.
guess i’m not a real fan then. will wait for it to be 70% off and be a real fan for less. thanks!
Yanno, I have always loved borderlands, but randy pitchford is an absolute fucking tool.
I even bought one of the diamond editions that came with a physical damn loot crate and tons of goodies with BL3, so it’s not like I’m not a fan. But still, how fucking stupid do you have to be to say it like this? What a stupid jackass.
The last two weren’t even worth $60, man. Make games worth $80 before pricing them that high.
Are we including Tiny Tina? Cause mainline BL I’ll agree with you but tiny tinas wonderland was pretty legit.
I forgot that game even existed so that might answer the question.
If you are a real Chief you will make it cheaper.
Fuck off Randy, you creepy, pedo fucking hack.
We’ll just wait for your dumb ass to leave another flash drive in another bathroom you’re getting a BJ from one of your marks in, again.
And hey Randy, if you can get all the media headlines to include the word ‘exonerated’ in the headlines which describe your completely confidential settlement reached outside of a courtroom, I can make shit up too.
Fuck this fucking hack.
What is 80$ in 1991 worth today? calculateme says 190$ adjusted for inflation (in 2025).
What about the minimum wage? dol.gov says $4.25, or $10.08 adjusted for inflation. Since 2009 it’s $7.25.
7.25/10.08 = 0,72 or 10.08/7.25 = ~1,40
80/60 = 1.33
So we have a decrease in minimum wage by 30%, but an increase of product price by 30%.
Is this correct? Does that make it 60% more expensive than his personal analogy from 1991?
Man, the two-sided percent reference point is confusing.
I guess a better way to compare this, is the time you needed to work for the product.
So in 1991: 80 $ / 4.25 $/h = 18.82 h
In 2025: 80 $ / 7.25 $/h = 11.03 h.
Don’t forget that today, people have less spare money due to skyrocketing housing costs and various other fixed expenses…
Greedflation on necessities like food, utilities, housing etc etc.
If they still like the series past the second, then its lack of taste tax.
The writing is so cringe that even thinking about it is annoying me and I haven’t played a BL game in over a decade
I got the first 2 free with GwG (RIP) and the 3rd for $12 on sale.
Guess I‘m not a real fan.
Good job Nintendo, you opened the $80 floodgate