'Baldur's Gate 3' Developer Explains Why He Called Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford's $80 'Borderlands 4' Comments "Gross"
Michael Douse, Larian Studios Director of Publishing, explained why he described Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford’s $80 Borderlands 4 comments “gross.”
Back on May 13th, Pitchford replied to an individual expressing his hope that Borderlands 4 would not cost $80.
He wrote, “A) Not my call. B) If you’re a real fan, you’ll find a way to make it happen. My local game store had Starflight for Sega Genesis for $80 in 1991 when I was just out of high school working minimum wage at an ice cream parlor in Pismo Beach and I found a way to make it happen.”
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In response to IGN’s coverage of these comments, Douse wrote on X, “Gross.”
An individual then challenged this asking, “Are we just gonna keep pretending like inflation doesn't exist? Like there isn't ANY justifiable reason games should cost more money? When adjusted for inflation, AAA games are cheap and definitely live up to that price tag (mostly dogsh*t).”
Douse then explained his comment, “Inflation exists (we give inflation bumps for example to employees) and price increases can make sense, but saying ‘real fans will find a way’ is gross because it assumes your game is more important during a cost of living crisis than, for example, making it day to day.”
He added, “Real fans are people who love & understand what you do, keep track, and engage with your s**t regardless of how much they spend.”
The individual also retorted, “It is quite gross of a statement, though im not gonna pretend like a video game is in competition with my day to day expenses? Video games are definitely a luxury, always have been. If someone is buying a game and can't pay rent, their priorities are not right.”
To that, Douse responded, “Luxuries are in competition with day to day expenses.”
When questioned by another individual if Baldur’s Gate 3 would cost $80 if it launched a few months from now, Douse replied, “Whatever price it was we would probably not suggest people do whatever they can to buy it, lest they not be real fans.”
What do you make of Douse’s explanation?
You know what's also gross? All the alphabet garbage in Baldur's Gate 3. Larian have this pro-customer mask similar to what CDPR used to have, but they lied to people between the early access version of the game and the pronoun selector when it released. They are scummy, but in a different way.
$80. A pimps love has no price.
That's all this sounds like. But they are not good at it.