Borderlands 4 creator explains why he’s returning to Steam and calling it a ‘death store.’ His predictions for the Epic Games Store were ‘missed or too optimistic’

The announcement of Borderlands 4 was one of the attractions of the Gamescom 2024 Opening Night Live show that took place a few days ago. The next installment in the series will be released on PC, PS5 and XSX/S in 2025 and will be available on PC both on the Epic Games Store and on Steam. This would not be surprising if it weren’t for the fact that a few years ago, Gearbox studio head Randy Pitchford didn’t like Valve’s platform and deliberately made Borderlands 3 and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands EGS timed exclusives.

To better understand the context of the whole situation, let’s recall his statement from 2019, in which the developer emphasized that the Epic Games Store is the only platform that can break Steam’s monopoly. According to Pitchford, Valve’s website was destined to become a “dying store” in the next five to 10 years..

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As you can easily guess, after the announcement, Borderlands 4 It will be premiering on Steam, and the creator’s statement at the time has come back to him like a throwback. After one X user remembered Pitchford’s words, these words: wrote a replywho This scenario might come true if Epic Games used its advantage more effectively. Instead, Steam is still the market giant, and competitors with better developer offerings are “shooting themselves in the foot.”

Furthermore, Gearbox Studios’ head confirmed this in his statement. Despite being a Steam user, he will still cheer and support Valve’s platform competitors.He also mentioned that customers come for specific games, not for the store.

Pitchford then added that he has “high hopes for the Epic Games Store,” which was confirmed by the positive first impression. Borderlands 3 I Wonderland for Little TinaHowever. His long-term forecasts for EGS were “inappropriate or overly optimistic,” which he described as a “beautiful lesson” for himself and others.Perhaps the conclusions drawn from them prompted him to make the above-mentioned productions available on Valve’s platform, half a year and a quarter after their premiere on EGS, respectively.

The Key to Epic Games Success

Finally, the developer confirmed that its support for Steam has not changed since the platform’s inception (as evidenced by the release of the platform Borderlands 3 In 2020, I wonderland In 2022), but hopes that “Epic Games will continue to struggle and make progress.” In his opinion, If the company wants to stand any chance, it needs to “prioritize the store and try some new initiatives, while doubling down on its efforts to get major exclusive titles.”.

However, Epic Games should keep in mind that in addition to buying games, it is important to make a good assessment of their profitability. And this has not been the best in recent years, as the company’s CEO, Tim Sweeney, recently confirmed.