Gearbox boss on $80 Borderlands 4: 'If you're a real fan you'll find a way to make it happen'

Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford comments on Borderlands 4 potentially costing $80 at launch, saying he doesn't decide price but real fans will buy anyway.

Gearbox boss on $80 Borderlands 4: 'If you're a real fan you'll find a way to make it happen'
Comment IconFacebook IconX IconReddit Icon
Senior Gaming Editor
Published
Updated
2 minutes read time

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. TweakTown may also earn commissions from other affiliate partners at no extra cost to you.

TL;DR: Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford clarified that pricing decisions for $80 games like Borderlands 4 are made by publishers, not developers. With Nintendo Switch 2 introducing an $80 tier for flagship titles, publishers like 2K Games and Rockstar will determine prices for major releases, reflecting evolving industry standards.

Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford's comments on $80 game pricing has incensed some gamers who are critical of the new software MSRP.

Gearbox boss on $80 Borderlands 4: 'If you're a real fan you'll find a way to make it happen' 1
2

Thanks to Nintendo's efforts with the Switch 2, video games now cost $80. Not all video games though--just a select few like Mario Kart World. But Pandora's box has been opened, and while companies are deciding to price their games on a case-by-case basis, the $80 tier has been established for mainline flagship games, at least on the Switch 2. And for games with simultaneous multi-platform launches, companies can now elevate pricing to $80 on other platforms to make things even. So which games will cost $80? Will GTA 6? Maybe. What about Borderlands 4, which is also getting a Switch 2 port?

One fan brought up the possibility of Borderlands 4 costing $80 to Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford in a May 13 Tweet, and Pitchford's response has agitated some gamers.

"A) Not my call. B) If you're a real fan, you'll find a way to make it happen," Pitchford said in his response.

"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."

The first part is interesting because it's apparently true.

Pitchford is CEO of Gearbox, and Gearbox is owned by Take-Two Interactive who bought Gearbox in early 2024 for $460 million.

But 2K Games is the publisher of the Borderlands series, and namely the publisher of Borderlands 4.

As we know from recent comments from Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, video game prices are set by the labels themselves. In this case, 2K Games would be the label that sets the price for Borderlands 4, and not Gearbox.

This of course also means that Rockstar Games will be the ones who set the price for Grand Theft Auto VI.