Borderlands 4 has been a major hit with reviewers, earning mostly eight- and nine-star reviews at launch from various gaming outlets. With few issues to be found, we even gave the game a solid score of nine. Unfortunately, after the day-one patch rolled out and fans got their hands on the game, issues began to arise. Many have taken to social media to discuss their dismay, and others have decided to bomb Borderlands 4 with negative reviews. Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford has responded to the fan criticism of Borderlands 4, telling them to “code your own engine.”
Borderlands 4 CEO Lashes Back At Criticism
Randy Pitchford has become synonymous with poor PR, with many players often getting annoyed by his statements and how he reacts to the fanbase. Earlier this year, he received criticism for his comments about how “real fans” would “find a way to make it happen” when it came to purchasing Borderlands 4. This came after fans complained that the game could have potentially cost $80 at launch – a price trend that many have been unhappy with.
Now, the Gearbox CEO is receiving more criticism after a long string of tweets that resulted in him “sarcastically” telling players to “code your own engine.” The string of tweets from Pitchford was focused on ways that PC players could enhance their gameplay experience, offering options such as playing with volumetric fog turned off and using DLSS. In response, one fan stated, “Or just an idea here, make your game look good without relying on AI upscaling.”
To this, Pitchford responded, “Code your own engine and show us how it’s done, please. We will be your customer when you pull it off. The people doing it now are clearly dumb and don’t know what they’re doing, and all the support and recommendations and code and architecture from the world’s greatest hardware companies and tech companies working with the world’s greatest real-time graphics engine coders don’t know what you seem to know. /sarcasm”
Users were quick to point out that Borderlands 4 was made using Unreal Engine 5, and that the team didn’t “code [their] own engine.” Others told Pitchford that criticism is justified and shouldn’t be mocked, with one user telling the CEO, “You have a history of responding publicly in ways that come across as defensive or confrontational, often engaging directly with individuals instead of maintaining the professional posture expected of an executive. Reacting emotionally rather than strategically only makes things worse over time. People expect their concerns to be acknowledged and addressed, not dismissed with statements like “Well, you do a better job.” They’re not your bros, they’re your customers.”
