Gearbox founder and CEO Randy Pitchford has defended recent Gearbox setbacks, like the catastrophic reception of the Borderlands film or the inexplicably poor state of Risk of Rain 2's latest DLC, Seekers of the Storm. Unfortunately for Pitchford, he compared the company to The Beatles, one of, if not the most legendary and beloved musical acts in human history, and outraged fans came streaming out of the woodwork.
In response to an X user who questioned the developer's "judgement and shot-calling ability" (thanks, Eurogamer), Pitchford invoked The Beatles, claiming that even that legendary outfit only "had a 25% hit rate." Further, the Gearbox boss mused: "When artists have a miss, that's when they need fans the most to root them on, so they are motivated to keep creating."
Sadly for Randy, this invocation of The Beatles appears to have gotten away from him, with Waverunner5642 memorably pointing out that The Beatles never intentionally released an unfinished album riddled with audio issues. Others were outraged at the comparison, still more rattling off the beloved band's commercial statistics and other random trivia.
Do you think that Gearbox is, in some way, comparable to The Beatles? Does that make Pitchford Gearbox's very own John Lennon? Let us know how you like seeing yourself in the comments below.
[source x.com]
Comments 42
Hey, it makes sense in his head, at least….. 🙄🙄🙄😬😂🤦🏽
I assume the original Borderlands was only good by accident, considering who's helming the company.
We, as a society, have evolved beyond the need for Borderlands and Gearbox.
Seems like heads of companies aren’t with the times.
The Beatles: Strawberry Fields Forever
Randy Pitchford: Duke Nukem Forever
I’d rather play with turds in duke nukem forever than listen to the Beatles on mute.
Couldn’t hold my laughter when I read the headline.
He needs to stop doing edibles before posting on twitter
I mean to those they see themselves as. They have made better in the past.
Borderlands is a fair series of gameplay, dialogue got worse, fair worlds, but it's hardly perfect.
Now hang on everybody let's put things in perspective..for a start apple records founded by the beatles was a car wreck from start to finish. It was incredibly,badly managed and just leaked money left right and centre. It almost ruined the beatles financially. So comparing gearbox to the beatles in this context is spot on but if he's trying to convince anybody that gearbox's output is anywhere near as prolific as the beatles then he's of his meds..its a bit like when oasis claimed they were more famous than the beatles..not even in the same universe.
The Beatles have 6 diamond certified albums. For reference, Taylor Swift only has 2.
Randy Pitchford essentially just compared himself to the Micheal Phelps of music. That is some ego you've got there dude.
@Fartingale the beatles are one of those bands that I've grown to appreciate more as I have grown older. As I learned to play bass guitar over the past 35 years or so it makes you appreciate how songs are structured and how they have to work. The beatles were so far ahead of their time and their music still sounds as fresh today as when I first heard them as a child. If you are not a musician then trying to explain the nuances of a song like Eleanor rigby will in all likelihood be lost on most people but those who play any instrument to a high level will know and understand what I'm blathering on about.
Still can’t believe they bought out the Risk of Rain 2 devs and then tanked their game. That alone made me go from 0 respect for Randy to actively wishing him harm.
@nessisonett didn’t know. I guess companies can sink lower.
Hard to tell if Randy does this ***** on purpose or not sometimes
When I'm in a mood for pure art, I put Borderlands in my record player
@Czar_Khastik this is so ironic as i put a Beatles vinyl in my PS5. Great way to relax and unwind.
@Kidfunkadelic83 Nice! People actually don't know this but one of the reasons why the PS5 is so big is because it can play vinyl
I’ve always been a Rolling Stones man myself.
TBH thought they were waaaay better than The Beatles. But that’s the beauty of music.
@Drago201 Edibles would at least make him chill and maybe funny. He’s just an annoying ***** all the time.
"Randy is so greasy not even Wendy's would serve him"
-Civvie 11
Wow.
That's like saying you're more popular than Jesus... No?... I'll get me coat.
When your products doesn't received well by the consumers then what you need to do is show some humility, not flexing your ego.
But for Randy Pitchfork there's no such thing as humility. So one more reason to despise this guy.
And i guess this is karma for Randy that he needs to pay after scamming Alien fans and Sega with Colonial Marines and killed Duke Nukem franchise with DNF.
The only 'beatle' Randy has anything in common with is a dung beetle, pushing his bullsh*t along, gathering the fresh sh*t that flows from his mouth.
When’s the last time gearbox released a good borderlands game
Fake outrage. He said “even the Beatles” as synonymous with “even the best” have a less that 100% hit rate. Everyone knows that. Why are people like this?
@Northern_munkey While it’s true that Apple Corps as a whole was a financial disaster, it consisted of many different companies (Apple Films, Apple Electronics, Apple Boutique and so on)
Of these companies Apple Records was by far the most successful. Not only did they publish all of the Beatles music, they also found many other successful artists. If my memory serves me right they were actually the most successful “indie” record label ever (at the time)
So while comparing Gearbox to Apple Corps is not very kind to gearbox, comparing them to Apple Records is madness.
Sorry for my Beatles nerdiness. I just finished “Can’t Buy Me Love”, a fantastic Beatles biography..,
@Northern_munkey indeed. I recently read an article where the author said they went to a dinner party of a college professor who lectured in classical music. This guy was a real music snob as you can imagine. Had no time for 'modern' music. So the author was surprised to hear the sounds of the Beatles when she got the dinner party. Not even late-era Beatles either, one of the earlier songs was playing. The lecturer merely said "they're just wonderful aren't they".
THAT is the magic of The Beatles. Their music may seem simple but REAL musicians and intellectuals in that field understand that everything about it is super clever. Chord changes, arrangements etc had never been done before.
F*** I love The Beatles. 25% hit rate? What is this guy on?!
@PSme Nah. I love the Stones as much as the next man but they are, essentially, just a blues band. The Beatles had more innovation and experimentation in one finger than the Stones ever had. There's a reason why the Stones 'psychadelic' album is one of their most forgotten. The Beatles may appear 'simpler' to the ear but refer to my other comment in this thread.
Love the Stones, but LOVE the Beatles!
They made one or two good games and now they assume they are some kins of legendary game studios. Duke Nukem Forever? Aliens Colonial Marines? Battleborne? Risk of Rain 2 DLC? Borderlands movie? To Randy himself, all of them are actually awesome and we just don't get it i guess lol
@tomassi Indeed even a song like Tomorrow Never Knows, The Chemical Brothers based their entire output on that song alone 30 odd years later.
I can not find the comparison to The Beatles in his tweet, he uses them as an example, no?
Hahahahaha the borderlands games are utter crap.
Dont really care what he's saying but I'm tired of people dunking on Colonial Marines. I enjoyed it. I get as a full price title it fell short and was a long way below what it was marketed as but given how quick it was at 2.99 it was more than worth that. I played through to the end, had a good time and thats more than i can say about a lot of titles.
@tomassi when the stones lost Brian Jones their music was nowhere near as innovative..same when Metallica lost the late great cliff Burton.
@Fartingale
I am a huge fan of the Beatles but this post made me laugh out loud for real...lol...
@Northern_munkey
Huge fan of Metallica but their best riffs are written by Dave Mustaine
@MikeOrator heretic..I had the displeasure of meeting mustaine in HMV during the rust in peace tour and whilst the rest of the band were great guys and signed my album he was a massive d*** head.
@Northern_munkey
lol...I have heard he is a terrible person but I think he has mellowed with age. I also know he didn't write as many Metallica riffs as he would lead people to believe, I just like pushing buttons and it's nice to argue about music instead of video games for a change...lol...
@MikeOrator I agree..I think he wrote maybe 2 (that I remember without looking) and those were the four horsemen and call of khutulu. I could be mistaken and maybe there was a 3rd but I'm not sure.
@MikeOrator phantom lord,metal militia, the four horsemen,ride the lightning and call of kutulu are the songs mustaine co-wrote with metallica.
The only thing Randy Pitchford and the Beatles have in common is a cocaine addiction.
This guy is the Joe Exotic of game development.
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