„Someone take away his phone” Borderlands 4 fans react to Randy Pitchford's social media storm

It wouldn’t be another Borderlands launch without Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford shooting himself in the foot. Borderlands 4 launched at the end of last week, and despite generally positive reviews from critics, which have settled at 84 / 100 on Metacritic and 85 / 100 on OpenCritic, the Steam reviews have not been so kind. On launch day, the Steam reviews had a moment where they were only 35% positive, but have since balanced out to 67% positive at the time of writing. Much of the displeasure from fans appears to be coming from poor performance, especially on PC, which sent Pitchford into a social media tirade.

Is Randy Pitchford the worst part of Borderlands 4? Fans react to the CEO’s social media posts

The answer to the above question might vary depending on who you ask. Borderlands 4’s performance was genuinely pretty bad for some people. But the worst part of it all is that Pitchford could just stop talking. Pitchford posted an initial message last night, quietly calling out PC gamers in general: “Every PC gamer must accept the reality of the relationship between their hardware and what the software they are running is doing.” And then responded to himself eighteen times.

Community notes summed up the problem quite well: “The publisher of a game is responsible for providing accurate recommended and minimal specs since the consumers have absolutely no way to check how the game is going to run in the hardware before release.” This highlights the hypocrisy of Pitchford’s statement, as it is Gearbox's responsibility to provide accurate information, allowing consumers to make an informed decision about whether to spend their money. It’s impossible to confirm that every PC gamer who bought Borderlands 4 checked the minimum requirements, but surely some did. But that’s not even that important.

Even if every PC gamer in the world were wrong, even if they are all to blame somehow, what good does antagonizing your customers get you? Either stop posting or send a quick apology, explain how you’re working on addressing the issues, and take a break from the internet for a few days. Borderlands 4 is receiving positive reviews; its Steam review percentage has nearly doubled over the weekend. Let the natural forces of gaming restore balance while you help your team address some of the issues. Don’t throw more gas on the fire.

Compare this to a game like No Man’s Sky. Of course, they are very different games, but you may remember the intensely negative initial reaction to that game’s launch. But rather than posting on social media about upset fans, Sean Murray of Hello Games took a different approach. He continued to work hard on improving the game. With the recent release of a major update for No Man’s Sky and the highly anticipated follow-up project, Light No Fire, on the distant horizon, Hello Games has earned back the respect of its customers, and not by posting a stream of consciousness rant on social media.

Users on Reddit shared similar sentiments about Pitchford’s approach, with one user writing: “Randy seems fundamentally incapable of not digging himself a deeper hole.” And another adding: “…please take this man’s phone away from him. I hate how much his personality precedes these games.” Which led to my previous question: Is Randy Pitchford the worst part of Borderlands 4? If someone else could become the face of these games, would that be a net positive for the series? Obviously, we can’t predict the future, but when it’s this consistent an occurrence, it does at least beg the question.

Borderlands 4

September 11, 2025

Rate It!

• Overview

• Gearbox
• Randy Pitchford
• Borderlands (franchise)