During a Q&A after its recent financial report, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has explained the reason for why it decided to price Borderlands 4 – a title being published by its 2K Games label – at $70 rather than $80. In his answer (via GamesRadar), Zelnick said that the company was focused on offering customers value according to the price they pay.
“I think our approach may be a little bit different,” Zelnick said. “We believe that any consumer experience is the intersection of the thing itself and what you paid for the thing. So our goal is to vastly exceed expectations. We want to put out the best entertainment on Earth, and we want to deliver more value than what we charge for. And we think we’ve, generally speaking, gotten that right.”
When it comes to whether Take-Two Interactive will be taking a similar stand about price and value for customers with the May 26, 2026 release of Grand Theft Auto 6, however, Zelnick was more evasive in his answer. “We’ve had variable pricing at the company forever,” he said.
“Variable pricing has been the nature of this industry forever. Most frontline releases will go out at a higher price, sometimes with special editions, and then over time, usually the price is discounted to optimize for the largest possible market. And I don’t think that’s going to change any time soon.”
While the $70 price for Borderlands 4 has been praised by many, before developer Gearbox had officially made the announcement, there was quite a bit of controversy surrounding some of the words that studio CEO Randy Pitchford had to say about the pricing of games.
In a social media post that has gone on to be heavily criticised, Pitchford essentially said that “real fans” of the Borderlands franchise would find a way to buy the game regardless of what its price ended up being. To help make his point, Pitchford also brought up an anecdote about his attempts at buying the $80 Staflight on Sega Genesis back in 2991.
“If you’re a real fan, you’ll find a way to make it happen,” posted Pitchford. “My local game store had Starflight for Sega Genesis for $80 in 1991 when I was just out of high school working minimum wage at an ice cream parlor in Pismo Beach and I found a way to make it happen.”
Pitchford would eventually walk this statement back, going as far as apologising for it. In a later post, he spoke about how many Borderlands fans had felt like they were being taken for granted, and how this was not his intention.
“In seriousness though, nobody likes being taken for granted and it was not my intent,” his post continues. “I’m humbled by the love and support everyone has shown the team as we push hard to get this amazing game in your hands. They’re crushing it, and I can’t wait for everyone to play what’s going to be the best Borderlands ever! Regardless of where the price lands, it’s going to be worth it and then some. Back to work for me!”
Borderlands 4 is coming to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2 on September 12. More recently, Gearbox has been releasing trailers to showcase some of the game’s playable characters, with the most recent one showing off Amon.