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

It’s become a tradition: a new *Borderlands* game launches, and Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford ends up creating a problem for himself. *Borderlands 4* came out last week and, while critics generally liked it (giving it scores of 84/100 on Metacritic and 85/100 on OpenCritic), players on Steam haven’t been as impressed. The game initially received very negative Steam reviews-only 35% positive on launch day-but they’ve since improved to 67% positive. A lot of the criticism seems to be due to performance issues, particularly on PCs, which led to a frustrated response from Pitchford on social media.

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

People have different opinions about how well *Borderlands 4* is doing, with some reporting significant performance issues. However, many find the constant commentary from Randy Pitchford to be the biggest problem. He initially made a general statement about PC gamers needing to understand how their hardware impacts game performance, and then replied to his own post an incredible eighteen times.

Community feedback accurately pointed out that game publishers need to provide reliable system requirements because players can’t test a game on their computers before it’s released. This makes Pitchford’s comments misleading, as Gearbox is responsible for giving players the information they need to decide if they can actually run the game. While not every player likely checked the minimum specs for *Borderlands 4*, some certainly did, but even that isn’t the main issue.

Even if players are upset and at fault, attacking them won’t solve anything. It’s better to either stop responding or quickly apologize, explain that you’re working on fixes, and step away from social media for a bit. Borderlands 4 is already getting better reviews, with its Steam rating significantly improving. Let the game’s community naturally recover while your team focuses on resolving the problems – don’t make things worse.

No Man’s Sky faced a very negative response when it first launched. While it’s a different game entirely, it’s a useful comparison. Instead of responding to upset fans on social media, Sean Murray, the creator of No Man’s Sky, focused on improving the game itself. Now, with a significant update released and a new project, Light No Fire, in development, Hello Games has regained the trust of its players – and they did it through dedicated work, not social media posts.

Reddit users echoed these feelings, with one commenting that Randy Pitchford consistently makes things worse for himself. Another user pleaded for someone to limit his public appearances, expressing frustration that his personality overshadows the games. This led to the question of whether Pitchford is a detriment to the *Borderlands* franchise, and if a different figurehead could benefit the series. While it’s impossible to know what the future holds, the recurring negative reaction certainly raises the issue.

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2025-09-16 01:32