It’s been a couple weeks since Gearbox Software confirmed the PC version of Borderlands 3 would be exclusive to the Epic Games Store, and the developer isn’t backing down on their pledge to be exclusive to the Epic Games Store. In fact, Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford has become quite vocal in the decision, saying it’s better for the PC gaming industry.
While many fans are still upset at the decision, this past weekend, Pitchford spent a lot of time on Twitter explaining why he supports the game being exclusive to the Epic Games Store. Pitchford said that while he “may have some influence” on the process, the choice was largely up to publisher 2K Games.
Pitchford did point out that Epic lacks many features that are on Steam, and some may never hit the Epic Store. Despite this, he pointed to the roadmap for the store, which he said “If I were a betting man, I would expect that there are more things that happen than what they are committing to.”
As for people still upset over the decision, Pitchford said “And so we’re going to swallow the Epic Games Store pill with Borderlands 3. And some of you guys are going to hate it and scream bloody murder and you’ll even blame me, personally, for it. And you can bitch and moan and brigade and stalk my shit, but at the end of the day when we look back at this moment we’ll realize that this was the moment where the digital stores on PC became unmonopolized.”
As for the Epic Store lacking features, Pitchford reiterated that “the store will be different when the game launches” and that “it will become a boon to their store if they bring sufficient features to make the customer experience great for us.” Should needed features be missing still, he said Epic will suffer (again), and that “this is a tremendous forcing function for Epic.”
Lastly, Pitchford echoed previous sentiments that Epic has the resources to commit to developing new and better tech, as well as the will to invest in them – and that Steam “may look like a dying store” within the next decade.
Borderlands 3 will launch on September 13th across Windows PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The PC version will be a six month timed exclusive on the Epic Games Store.
