By Pitchford hawked ice cream for Genesis cartridges
- by Sammy Barker
Nintendo’s contentious move to elevate the cost of Mario Kart World to $80 has stirred anxiety among gamers – particularly as Microsoft trailed closely behind.
Up to this point, Sony has not declared any price hikes for anticipated first-party titles like Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and Ghost of Yotei – yet that hasn’t prevented enthusiasts from pre-ordering their expensive Digital Deluxe Editions regardless. It may just be a matter of time.
Addressing Gearbox head Randy Pitchford on X (or Twitter), one admirer expressed gratitude that he wouldn’t impose an $80 charge for the forthcoming Borderlands 4. This follows concerns within the publisher 2K Games and its parent firm Take-Two regarding potential price augmentations.
“Not my decision,” he remarked, before provocatively adding: “If you’re a true fan, you’ll discover a way to make it work.”
Pitchford proceeded to recount how he procured Starflight for the SEGA Genesis by selling ice cream on Pismo Beach. Clearly, this won’t be the final analogy someone draws to the costly cartridges of the 90s.
It goes without saying, Pitchford’s statements have landed him in trouble with a majority of consumers, with numerous fans flooding his replies to express their views.
To his credit, the former magician did offer some more prudent remarks on the matter during a recent PAX East discussion, where he asserted he was unaware of the sequel’s pricing.
“On one front, we have a competitive marketplace where the individuals making those decisions aim to sell as many copies as possible while being mindful of those who are price-sensitive,” he clarified. “There are people who dislike seeing prices rise, even the ones deciding on the pricing.
“Conversely, there are others acknowledging the reality that game budgets are escalating, along with the costs of retail packaging. It’s getting challenging out there, you folks. Borderlands 4 has more than doubled the development budget of Borderlands 3. More than doubled. So the reality is, I can’t predict what the price will be.”
See, that wasn’t overwhelmingly challenging, was it Randy?
[source x.com, via sea.ign.com]
As the Editor of Push Square, Sammy possesses over 15 years of expertise analyzing the landscape of PlayStation, from PS3 to PS5 and everything in between. He’s knowledgeable about PS Studios and industry concerns, in addition to sports games and simulators. He also has a fondness for RPGs when he finds the time to invest in them and is somewhat of a gacha enthusiast.