Not again.. | Asmongold TV

In 1991, Randy Pitchford bought Starlight for Sega Genesis for $80 while working minimum wage at an ice cream parlor. Now, as CEO of Gearbox, he told a fan worried about Borderlands 4 potentially costing $80: "If you're a real fan, you'll find a way to make it happen." Asmongold, reacting to the comment on his stream, doesn't take issue with the price in principle. He takes issue with Pitchford's assumption that Borderlands 4 is a game people would pay $80 for—and with the broader failure to understand how reputation compounds in a market flooded with alternatives.

The real fan trap

Asmongold argues that Pitchford's logic is "boomer logic" that ignores how the video game market has changed. In 1991, a kid buying a Genesis game had maybe seven other titles to choose from. Today, a player deciding whether to spend $80 on Borderlands 4 has thousands of options, many of them free. "Why pay eighty dollars for this game when you can play The First Descendant?" Asmongold asks. Or Warframe. Or Expedition 33. The point isn't that $80 is too much for any game—it's that the price has to match the perceived quality and novelty. Asmongold predicts Borderlands 4 will be "another mediocre millennial humor looter shooter" that scores a 6 or 7 out of 10. "Are people going to spend eighty dollars for Borderlands 4? Yes. Dozens of them will."