It feels like a weekly occurrence these days that there's some kind of price controversy in gaming – this week, it's Borderlands 4!
The upcoming Gearbox Software title has become the centre of some social media drama concerning questions about how much it will cost.
So, what's actually going on with Borderlands 4's price?
Here's what you need to know.
Borderlands 4 price controversy explained: What did Randy Pitchford say?
This situation began on 13th May, when Twitter user @oldgoldsot replied to Randy Pitchford, CEO of Borderlands 4 developer Gearbox Software, saying: "Randy, this game better not be 80 dollars."
In response, Pitchford tweeted the following on 14th May: "A) Not my call. B) If you're a real fan, you'll find a way to make it happen," before detailing how, during high school, he had saved money from his minimum wage job to purchase Starflight on the Sega Genesis.
Unsurprisingly, these comments went down poorly with many fans, who accused Pitchford of being out of touch with average people, given how high the cost of living is at the moment.
The topic of $80 video games has become more and more common this year, especially since Nintendo made the move to price premium Switch 2 titles like Mario Kart World at $80.
Following on from the controversy, Pitchford made another tweet on 21st May with the caption: "If you want the truth, here it is."
The tweet was accompanied by a clip from the recent Borderlands 4 panel at PAX East, during which, when asked how much Borderlands 4 would cost, Pitchford replied: "I'll tell you the truth – I don't know."
He explained that "we've got a competitive marketplace where the people that make those choices want to sell as many units as possible, and they want to be careful about people that are price sensitive".
He goes on to state that "there are other folks accepting the reality that game budgets are increasing, and there are tariffs for the retail packaging, and it's getting gnarly out there".
Will Borderlands 4 really cost $80?
The simple answer is that we don't know yet – Gearbox hasn't said anything about how much the game will cost yet, so all we can do is speculate.
While some games such as the aforementioned Mario Kart World will be $80 (or £75 for us Brits), most games are still steering away from that price point for fear of driving away potential buyers.
The way Pitchford has talked about it could certainly be interpreted to mean that the game will cost $80, but we think it's more likely that this is just poorly-expressed bluster.
The only upcoming Gearbox title with a confirmed price at present is Mafia: The Old Country, which is £45 / $50 – far below that $80 price point.
Borderlands 4 is a more premium title, and will have a more premium price, but we would be surprised if it cost more than $70, putting it in line with other major titles that have released this year such as Doom: The Dark Ages.
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