The announcement by 2K and Epic Games that Borderlands 3 would be an Epic Store exclusive title on PC has been met with a barrage of criticism from gamers, with many objecting to the game being sold exclusively on the Epic Store.
A lot of that anger has been directed at Randy Pitchford, CEO of developer Gearbox Software. His Twitter has since been bombarded by gamers with many blaming him and 2K for the exclusivity deal, and they are keen on making sure their opinions get heard.
Last week following the announcement by Epic Games and 2K, Randy Pitchford put out a tweet stating that the deal had nothing to do with Gearbox Software and that the decision was solely down to 2K Games. He did, however, seem to be in favour of the move.
Over the past few days though, Pitchford has become more irritated by the comments directed at him, especially in response to a thread that received a lot of backlash for criticising Steam for allowing gamers to leave negative reviews on previous Borderland games.
Pitchford posted a tweet where he stated that it was Steam’s decision not to do anything about the review bombing that has made him kind of happy that 2K decided to sign the exclusivity deal with Epic Games and thereby avoiding a Steam release. He added that the negative reviews have also made him reconsider Gearbox’s current publishing stance on the platform.
Ironically, that this misuse is possible and that Steam has no interest in correcting this misuse makes me kind of happy about 2k’s decision and makes me want to reconsider Gearbox Publishing’s current posture on the platform.
— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) 5 April 2019
However, that did not go down well with some gamers on Twitter, with many quick to hit back that the negative reviews left on Steam for previous Borderland games were as a result of 2K’s “anti-consumer” stance. When someone responded that it was Gearbox and 2K’s fault, Pitchford hit back at what he saw as “victim blaming” before telling the ‘troll’ to f*ck off.
“I wouldn’t hit you if you didn’t deserve it. It’s your fault I am hitting you.” WTF is wrong with you and this victim blaming bullshit. Kindly fuck off, troll.
— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) 5 April 2019
You’ve got things backwards. It’s more like game developers and publishers have been abusing their relationship with their customers for years but now those customers are tired of getting shit on and are now fighting back.
You’re not the victim you idiot, you’re the perpetrator.
— Matto (@Mattoderp) 5 April 2019
It will be interesting to see how the sales of Borderlands 3 will be affected, if at all, by 2K’s decision to make the game exclusive to the Epic Store. While the move itself has seemingly angered many, it also appears that Randy Pitchford’s handling of the situation has also gotten on the wrong side of many, and that may also have an impact too.
Last year, EA found themselves in a somewhat similar situation when their handling of criticisms directed at the historical inaccuracies portrayed in Battlefield V resulted in many boycotting the game.
