Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick recently commented on the controversial Randy Pitchford, president of Gearbox Entertainment, which is developing Borderlands 4. Pitchford’s previous comments about the potential price of the highly anticipated looter shooter Borderlands 4 caused quite a major controversy, and the CEO of publisher Take-Two Interactive has finally addressed it.
Borderlands 4 is set to finally be released on September 12. Back in May, however, Randy Pitchford frustrated Borderlands 4 fans with his comments on social media, saying that “real fans” would “find a way to make it happen” if Borderlands 4 cost $80. The comment stemmed from a fan asking if Borderlands 4 would follow the new trend set by Nintendo and Microsoft to ask higher prices for new releases. The comment was not very well-received, to say the least, and caused enormous backlash against Pitchfork and Gearbox at the time.
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Take-Two Boss Says Pitchford 'Can Be Controversial at times,' but Still Loves Him to Death
Now, Borderlands 4 may officially cost $70, but gamers have not entirely forgotten the controversy, and Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has chimed in. In an interview with IGN, Zelnick explained that Pitchford can be a controversial figure, “sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally,” but the executive still “loves him to death,” confirming that there’s no bad blood between the executives. When asked about Borderlands 4’s price, Zelnick indicated that the publisher is “always engaged in variable pricing” and that he believes Borderlands 4 will offer terrific value to gamers.
After the initial backlash against his remarks, Pitchford apologized to Borderlands 4 fans, calling the incident a “misunderstanding” in a lengthy post. He acknowledged that he does not want people to pay more than they should or are comfortable with to play the upcoming game, and apologized for using the “real fans” expression.
In any case, gamers who are open to paying more than $70 for Borderlands 4-related products have a chance to do so. Earlier this month, a Collector’s Edition of Borderlands 4 was revealed with a price of $150, but surprisingly, the package does not come with the actual game. While the product contains some neat goodies, such as a cloth map and an ECHO-4 figurine with LED Lights, fans were very angry to discover that the product did not actually include the title, which must be purchased separately. Gearbox later explained that the product was not an actual collector’s edition of the game, but an ECHO-4 bundle.
Borderlands 4
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 82 /100 Critics Rec: 88%
- Released
- September 12, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Gearbox Software
- Publisher(s)
- 2K
