A statement from the head of Borderlands 4 earned the CEO a lot of criticism from fans of the series. Due to the many angry reactions, he responded again with another statement – which did not improve the situation.
What is the CEO apologizing for? The CEO of the developer studio of Borderlands 4, Randy Pitchford, received a severe backlash after he responded to a X post from a fan. The fan expressed his concerns about charging 80 dollars for Borderlands 4, to which Pitchford had a clear response (via X): “A) Not my decision. B) If you are a true fan, you will find a way to make it happen. […]”
This mindset did not go down well with the community. The fans were angry, felt belittled, and voiced their opinions loudly: “This is one of the worst responses a CEO has given recently.” (@zvis_ceral via X)
Now the head has come forward with another statement. However, this had the opposite effect from what he intended.
Here you see the trailer for Borderlands 4:
“A very detached, arrogant, and elitist perspective.”
What does the statement say? In a long, detailed post on X (which would completely exceed the length of this article if written out in full), Pitchford explains that the whole situation and the critical response were a misunderstanding:
I apologize for the misunderstanding. […] The actual context was that a guy replied to a post about Borderlands 4 on the Nintendo Switch 2 and warned me that the game would fail if the price ended up being 80 dollars. I tried to explain that it wasn’t my decision, but that it was okay if the price goes up by 10 dollars (because that’s obviously the direction the industry is heading), and that Borderlands 4 is fine because it’s a great game and there are many fans who recognize its value and want it.
Randy Pitchford via X
However, he seems to have particularly displeased the community with one statement.
I think my attempt to condense that with the phrase “true fans” upset some people, and I saw it being inflated as if I were making a grand statement (which I wasn’t – I was just trying to help someone I thought sincerely cared about us and was concerned about us), and I could see it was pressed into the idea that I took the audience for granted (which is a super shitty view, but it was not my intention at all and does not reflect how I feel).
Randy Pitchford via X
What is the community’s reaction? The players are not satisfied with this apology, quite the opposite. They feel that Pitchford is trying to shift the blame onto the community for misunderstanding his opinion:
- “It was perceived as a very detached, arrogant, and elitist attitude. I felt that there was little to no respect for the audience. Snobbish and haughty,” writes @DrDude1985.
- “The problem was not the thing with the ‘true fan’, the problem was that you tied a condition to being a fan. That’s why AAA loses, and that’s why EVERYONE is happy about it,” writes @HokoKoko74979
- “Gaslighting and pretending as if players misunderstood what you said is also unacceptable. That’s not an apology. That’s a refusal to take responsibility. […] You have yet to issue a formal statement to the tens of thousands of players you angered with your comments. The best you seem able to do is publish a toxic apology that shifts the blame back onto the players by pretending they misunderstood your remarks,” writes @_AnthonyMirage.
It remains to be seen whether Pitchford will leave it at this statement or write another apology. Whether the price will remain at 80 dollars is still uncertain. Who knows if the dispute between the CEO and the community will shake things up. Borderlands 4 is set to release this year, and even earlier than the studio originally planned: Borderlands 4 just postponed its release, and some developers might be sweating now.
