Borderlands 4, the new episode of the looter shooter series expected for September 12, has recently ended up at the center of heated discussions between Gearbox and its community. The controversy mainly concerns the possible launch price and CEO Randy Pitchford's reactions to fan criticism.

Randy has recently sparked a heated debate in the gaming community with some statements regarding the possible price of Borderlands 4. His words, shared in response to fan concerns, touched on the hot topic of rising video game prices, suggesting that "true fans" would be willing to pay higher figures.

During an exchange on social media, a user expressed hope that Borderlands 4 would not be offered at $80 (which would be 90 euros from us), citing how many players would not be willing to support that figure, thus fueling the trend of constant price increases. Pitchford responded by stating that the final decision on the price is not up to him, but then added a comment that sparked numerous reactions: "If you're a real fan, you'll find a way to take it." To reinforce his point, he told a personal anecdote from 1991, when, just graduated and with an underpaid job, he still managed to buy Starflight for Sega Genesis for the price of 80 dollars.

These claims quickly generated a wave of criticism from gamers and some industry observers, who called Pitchford's words "reckless" and "out of this world", especially considering the current cost-of-living crisis. Many interpreted the comment as elitist and not very empathetic towards consumers. In previous statements, Pitchford had pointed out that Borderlands 4 has a development budget more than double that of Borderlands 3 and had mentioned the general increase in development costs and fees on retail packaging as factors affecting game prices.

The gaming industry is actually seeing a trend towards higher prices, with majors such as Nintendo and Microsoft itself having already introduced or announced games at 70 or 80 dollars / euros. At the moment, the official price of Borderlands 4 has not yet been announced, so we just have to wait to find out what 2K's decision will be which, however, gives encouraging signs with the launch of Mafia: The Old Country at 50 Euros.