Borderlands 4 will launch on Steam and the Epic Games Store on PC–a pretty common occurrence for any big-name game. But, in this case, it’s notable for a couple of reasons. First, Borderlands 3 was a timed exclusive for the Epic Games Store. And secondly, Gearbox co-founder and president Randy Pitchford shared some strong words about Steam five years ago on social media.
In April 2019, Pitchford believed that Steam could be “a dying store” in 5-10 years. This led to a viral post on X calling out Pitchford for his prediction, highlighting that Borderlands 4 will launch on Steam. Pitchford responded directly to this on the social media platform, stating that he could have been right if “if Epic successfully pressed its advantage.”
If Epic successfully pressed its advantage, that may have been the case. But Epic did not. So, famously, Steam does very little to earn the massive cut they take and continues its effective monopoly in the West while would-be competitors with much more developer friendly models…
— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) August 22, 2024
The Gearbox head honcho didn’t stop there and explained his rationale for bringing Borderlands 4 to Steam (it’s also arriving on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S). “…Steam does very little to earn the massive cut they take and continues its effective monopoly in the West while would-be competitors with much more developer friendly models continue to shoot themselves in the foot,” Pitchford said. “I am a Steam customer and Steam developer that will continue to root for and support competition.”
Pitchford also seems fond of his Steam Deck, adding: “As a Steam Deck customer and user, my bias for personal interest and convenience is fighting against my wish for a more developer friendly alternative on Windows PC.”
Borderlands 3 arrived as an Epic Games Store exclusive on PC back in 2019, before coming to Steam roughly a half-year later in March 2020. Initially, Borderlands 3 on the Epic Games Store seemed like a massive success.
Interestingly, earlier this month, Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney revealed that many Epic Games Store exclusivity deals “were not good investments.” However, Sweeney didn’t get into specifics, but did talk about the free-games program seeing a much better return on investment for the storefront.
Borderlands 4 was unveiled at Gamescom Opening Night Live earlier this week. The looter-shooter is set to launch in 2025 and has someone “far more dangerous” than Handsome Jack.
