You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games here
Gearbox Studios lead Randy Pitchford has admitted defeat against Valve’s PC gaming storefront Steam. Five years after claiming the store was in death throes, the Borderlands 4 head has finally accepted his mistake.
Randy Pitchford admits defeat
Back in 2019, Pitchford famously claimed Steam was facing its death after the creation of the Epic Games Store. With Borderlands 3 announced as an Epic Games Store exclusive, Pitchford claimed developers would flock to the new platform.
“From a track record point of view, my prediction is that Epic’s investment in technology will outpace Valve’s substantially,” the Borderlands 4 head claimed. “When we look back on Steam in five or ten years, it may look like a dying store and other, more competitive stores, will be the place to be.”
🚀 Save Up to $1,200 on the Samsung Galaxy S25!
Pre-order now and save big with trade-in and Samsung credit. Limited time only!
*Includes trade-in value + $300 Samsung credit.
In a follow-up tweet five years later, the Gearbox CEO admitted his mistake. With Borderlands 4 officially launching on Steam as well as the Epic Games Store, the CEO admitted defeat.
“Borderlands 3 and Wonderlands demonstrated clearly that the customers show up for the games, not the store front,” Pitchford claimed. “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. I had high hopes for Epic – hopes that were validated in the moment of the Borderlands 3 and Wonderlands launches. But my long term hope regarding Epic’s store were misplaced or overly optimistic.”
“As a developer I will continue to balance being where the customers are with being where I wished would earn the customers trust and loyalty,” he continued. “As a game player, I will be on all the platforms.”
Steam is still a monopoly?
Despite admitting defeat for his predictions, the Gearbox CEO still believes that Steam is a monopoly. In the tweet, Pitchford explained that “Steam does very little to earn the massive cut they take and continues its effective monopoly in the West.”
“Publishers are afraid to take the risk to support more developer and publisher friendly stores,” the developer explained.
With the large majority of PC gamers simply unwilling to install another launcher for games, Epic’s developer-friendly processes don’t matter much to consumers. Instead, gamers simply wait for an eventual Steam release, such as with the recent launch of Kingdom Hearts.
Borderlands 4 is scheduled to release on PC and console in 2025.