Devolver Digital Uses Borderlands 4 Price Controversy To…

Summary

Devolver Digital humorously promoted Mycopunk by mocking Borderlands 4's recent controversy.
Randy Pitchford faced backlash for dismissing concerns about Borderlands 4's potential $80 price tag.
Borderlands 4 is scheduled to launch in September, and no price has yet been confirmed.

The controversy surrounding Gearbox Software CEO Randy Pitchford and Borderlands 4's potential $80 price has prompted the popular indie publishing house Devolver Digital to chime in, promoting its upcoming co-op shooter Mycopunk in the process. Devolver Digital is the publisher behind hits like Cult of the Lamb, Enter the Gungeon, Death's Door, and The Messenger, and is known to piggyback off gaming trends and controversies to humorously promote its own upcoming slate of games.

The Borderlands 4 price drama began when the face behind the franchise, Randy Pitchford, responded to a fan on Twitter who expressed valid concern about potentially being faced with an $80 price tag for the upcoming looter shooter. "If you’re a real fan, you’ll find a way to make it happen," Pitchford said, before adding an anecdote of his own about having to scrounge up $80 as a recent high school grad to be able to afford Starflight in 1991. His comment was met with widespread backlash from gamers who felt Pitchford was too dismissive of a very real industry-wide concern among gaming fans.

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By Andrea Trama

It wasn't just gamers who let their disapproval of Pitchford's comment be heard. Devolver Digital also joined in with its own joke, as the indie brand typically does in scenarios like this. Quote-tweeting an IGN post covering the original Randy Pitchford story, Devolver posted a short clip of Mycopunk. "You're gonna be able to buy Mycopunk for you and three of your friends for the price of one copy of Borderlands 4," the post reads.

Devolver Digital Responds to Randy Pitchford

Devolver was clever in using the Borderlands 4 price drama to promote Mycopunk, and even the game's developer, Pigeons at Play, retweeted Devolver's response. If Devolver's claim is indeed accurate, it would mean that its yet-to-be-released co-op shooter is aiming to cost about $20. Pitchford soon responded to Devolver, quote-tweeting the publisher's response with some more playful banter. It's not clear whether Pitchford was taking a jab at Mycopunk or agreeing with Devolver that the indie FPS won't cost nearly as much as Borderlands 4. Nevertheless, Pitchford's latest response to Devolver didn't do him any favors, and he has yet to provide any sort of apology for his original comment.

Looking ahead, Borderlands 4 has its September 12 release date locked in, and will likely make an appearance at Summer Game Fest next month when its pre-orders are expected to go live. It's then that fans will be able to know for sure whether the fourth mainline Borderlands installment will truly cost $80. As for Mycopunk, it's planning its release sometime this year and has a Steam demo currently available for gamers who are interested in checking it out.

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