Randy Pitchford: Borderlands 4's Steam release isn't the end of the PC store wars

Borderlands 4 was revealed this week at Gamescom, and the looter shooter will be launching on Steam as opposed to the Epic Games Store (EGS).

Controversially, both Borderlands 3 and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands launched on Epic’s storefront before eventually coming to Steam. The platform change was so noticeable that Gearbox head Randy Pitchford spoke on the shift, which is a begrudging one on his end.

Speaking to old comments he made in 2019 about the EGS potentially ending Steam’s monopoly, Pitchford called those old thoughts “overly optimistic. It’s a cool lesson for me and anyone who wants to learn from my experience.”

In the Epic Games Store’s early days, developers making their game exclusive to the platform did not always go well. The news would often lead to review bombing, regardless of exclusivity length, and at worst lead to conflicting player experiences.

While Borderlands 3 and Wonderlands did well at Epic, Pitchford admitted “customers show up for the games, not the store.” Gearbox will “continue to support Steam” going forward, which he stressed has been studio procedure since Steam began.

However, he also thinks Valve was effectively “given” a PC monopoly by the industry, and done “very little” to earn it. He still hopes Valve gets challenged by other storefronts, but also lamented publishers were afraid of supporting competitors.

He hasn’t given up faith in Epic, but believes the developer needs to “prioritize the store and try some new initiatives while also doubling down on earning pivotal exclusives. If it’d successfully pressed its advantage, that may have been the case. But Epic did not.”

“As a developer,” he concluded, “I will continue to balance being where the customers are with being where I wished would earn the customers trust and loyalty. As a game player, I will be on all the platforms.”