Borderlands CEO says his hopes on Epic Store were 'overly optimistic or misplaced'

After years of exclusivity on the Epic Store, Borderlands 4 is back on Steam...

and Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford shares some candid thoughts on the Epic Games Store as a whole. Back in 2019, Gearbox shocked PC gamers by announcing that Borderlands 3 would be exclusive to the Epic Games Store . The move was a big bet from the Fortnite-maker, who was spending millions to secure exclusive games for its fledgling PC storefront in a bid to attract more users.



Years later, Borderlands is back on Steam, with Borderlands 4 planning to launch on both EGS and Valve's store. So what happened exactly? From a business perspective, it seems a bit straightforward--Steam is much bigger than the Epic Store and can potentially rake in more sales. So it makes sense to release new games onto Steam.

But back in 2019, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford believed in the Epic Store to a greater extent than he does now, so much that he declared Steam may "look like a dying store" in 5-10 years. In a rather long and illuminating Tweet , Pitchford shares his thoughts on previous Borderlands exclusivity deal, on the Epic Store as a whole, and how he believes his initial gusto for Epic's challenging shop may have been misguided and misplaced. Borderlands 4 is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, the Epic Games Store, and Steam in 2025.

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