Gearbox founder Randy Pitchford has admitted his long-term hopes for Epic were “misplaced or overly optimistic”, having previously predicted Steam could become a “dying store”.
For a bit of context, back in 2019, Pitchford wrote a lengthy post on social media discussing Gearbox’s decision to make Borderlands 3 on PC a timed Epic exclusive. At this time, the exec said he believed Epic’s “investment in technology will outpace Valve’s substantially”, and went on to suggest Steam could fizzle out and other store fronts would reign supreme.
Fast forward now to earlier this week, when Gearbox revealed Borderlands 4. The next series instalment is currently slated for a 2025 release across PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC via Epic and… Steam. Needless to say, this revelation has caused Pitchford’s earlier comments to resurface once again.
In response to one fellow X user who had mocked up a ‘How it started/How it’s going’ infographic highlighting Pitchford’s 2019 post above Borderlands 4’s Steam inclusion, the Gearbox head said he had “high hopes” for the Epic Games Store, but it had not “successfully pressed its advantage” in the time since.
Wrote Pitchford: “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 continue to shoot themselves in the foot.”
He added while he uses Steam himself, he will “continue to root for and support competition”. He also claimed that “customers show up for the games, not the store front”, as proven by the initial release of both Borderlands 3 and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands on Epic.