Randy Pitchford Faces Criticisms For New Backhanded Announcement

The CEO of Gearbox and the creator of the Borderlands series, Randy Pitchford, just struggled to get out of the muddy pool of being criticized for defending the potential $80 price tag of the upcoming Borderlands 4. He then stepped into a new one — making Tiny Tina's Wonderlands free on the Epic Games Store. 

First things first, it's not about the decision itself. This great offer for gamers could have become a great chance for those who haven't owned the game to enter the game, become a fan of the developer Gearbox Software, or become a buyer of Borderlands games. Yet, the boss has managed to demolish all these possibilities by making an awkward announcement on social media. 

While there are numerous normal ways to phrase this news, and the wording choice might be personal here, he seems to pick up the most tone-deaf option, emphasizing words like "real fans," and "cost-sensitive," with capitalized "FREE," which means it is highlighted in this context, showing up repeatedly — four times — in this Tweet: 

The frequent use of "FREE" is hard to overlook, and the repetition feels unnecessary, considering the poor timing of the post, which comes just ten days after the backlash regarding the potentially increased price for the next installment in the Borderlands franchise.

"So Randy, you think making backhanded comments towards your consumers about them being "cost sensitive" is the plan? Wtf happened to you," questioned an upset fan in the comment section, and agreed by many. 

Randy has clearly denied being "backhanded," and he provided an explanation of his wording: "I am taking it as a sincere truth that there are core gamers that have game ready PC’s or Xbox’s or PlayStations that cannot afford a $10 price increase. I absolutely want all of those people to not miss that this is a FREE offer for an amazing game. Free IS the keyword!" 

This explanation doesn't seem to change the fact that, at this moment, this sweet, free offer has turned sour, and the CEO seems to be facing a new lesson on how to handle criticism better.