Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford was recently asked about his thoughts on the Stop Killing Games initiative, and as is his wont, he went deep. Heavy. A little sideways. But he was also a lot more thoughtful on the topic, in his own unique way, than you might expect. Also, Battleborn was mentioned.
Stop Killing Games is a campaign launched in 2024 that demands game developers ensure their online games remain playable, even when server support is inevitably ended. The campaign was sparked largely by Ubisoft's ham-handed termination of The Crew, and it proved remarkably popular: An EU petition drew more than 1.4 million signatures and attracted a positive reception from at least one prominent politician.
It's a complex issue, but not one that Pitchford is afraid to take on. "I've lost games, and it's an emotional experience, so I admire the activism,” he told The Gamer. “It's a weird, challenging problem, though, because I think that at the same time, if we're going to have any games that are sincere live services, it seems mutually exclusive to have something that's going to be a living thing that can't be allowed to die. I don't know how to get around that.”
It's a pretty good answer off the cuff: Non-committal, but reasonably thoughtful. But Pitchford was just getting started.
"It's kind of a metaphor, I think, for life,” he continued. “I hate the fact that someday, the people that I care about aren't going to be here, and someday I'm not going to be here. I freaking hate that. And I wish I could be here forever, because I don't want to miss anything, and I hate the idea of someone missing me, and it's just something I have to accept and deal with."
But as humans, it's in our nature to struggle against the choking tendrils of our own mortality. We rage against the darkness, and we do not go gently, and by God Pitchford loves that about us—and that's why he appreciates Stop Killing Games: "I think it comes from the same heart that I have, which is a heart that loves experiences that are worthy and just wants to make sure they're there forever.”
And if you thought he was going to quit without pondering the heat death of the universe, you were wrong, my friend. "The truth is, there's going to be a time, trillions and trillions of years from now, when the universe will exist in a heat death, and everything will have decayed to a maximum state of entropy, and there's literally nothing," Pitchford continued.
"Battleborn was about the last star that would exist before that moment, because all of the stars in the universe will end. And it's so sobering to think about the fact that everything will end. Not just us, but literally everything, and I kind of hate that, and I hate the fact that we have to live in a universe that will be destroyed. And I love that I hate that, because it makes me want to fight against that."
It's a very big answer to a pretty straightforward question, but let me be clear: I may be having some fun with it but I also truly admire Pitchford's willingness to just vibe when the urge strikes. He's a bit like Reggie Jackson: He's not afraid to take big cuts, and sure, he whiffs a lot, but when he connects, he goes deep. I genuinely like that.
Borderlands 4 is set to arrive on September 12.
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