Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox, has revised his statement from 2019. He had predicted that Steam could now be a “dying store” after the announcement of the release of Borderlands 4 on the platform.
In 2019, the final Borderlands game, Borderlands 3, was announced exclusively on the Epic Games Store—a controversial decision at the time given Steam's dominance in PC game sales.
In a lengthy Twitter thread following the 2019 news, Pitchford claimed, “If we look back at Steam in five or ten years, it might look like a dying store,” citing Epic's significant investment in its own platform and more attractive terms and conditions.
After Borderlands 4 was announced for Steam this week, Pitchford's comments unsurprisingly began making the rounds on social media, prompting the executive to post a new response.
Pitchford stated that he had high hopes for the Epic Games Store, but ultimately said they were too optimistic.
However, the manager claimed that Borderlands 3 and Tiny Tina's Wonderlands had “clearly demonstrated” with their releases on the Epic Games Store that “customers come for the games, not the store,” and lamented that Steam competitors “shoot[ing] in the foot”.
“If Epic were to successfully exploit its advantage, [Steam dying] might have been the case. But Epic didn't,” he wrote. “So Steam famously does very little to earn the massive share they take, maintaining its effective monopoly in the West while potential competitors with much more developer-friendly models continue to shoot themselves in the foot.
“I am a Steam customer and Steam developer who will continue to support competition. Borderlands 3 and Wonderlands have clearly shown that customers come for the games, not the store.”
“But the industry gives Steam its monopoly because publishers are afraid to take the risk of supporting more developer and publisher friendly stores. This is all very interesting and there are a lot of opportunities for retail disruption in the PC gaming space, but no one seems to be able to execute on it.”
Pitchford added that as a Steam Deck user, his preference for personal interests and convenience conflicted with his desire for a more developer-friendly alternative.
“I had high hopes for Epic – hopes that were confirmed the moment Borderlands 3 and Wonderlands released. But my long-term hopes (expressed in a dozen long tweets I fired off five years ago) for Epic's store were misplaced or overly optimistic.
“This is a cool lesson for me and anyone who wants to learn from my experience. We will continue to support Steam going forward (as we have for virtually every PC game we've launched since Steam launched).
“In the meantime, I sincerely hope Epic continues the fight and makes progress. Epic needs to prioritize the store and try some new initiatives, while also doubling down on its efforts to secure key exclusives if it wants to stand a chance.
“I also hope that other serious competitors will emerge. I'm sure we'll all be watching. As a developer, I will continue to try to be where the customers are and be where I want the customers' trust and loyalty. As a player, I will be present on all platforms.”
Epic launched its PC games marketplace in December 2018 as a competitor to Valve's dominant Steam platform. In an effort to gain market share, Epic offered game makers a more generous revenue split: 88% of revenue went to the developer and 12% to Epic, compared to 70/30 for its competitor.
Epic has also spent heavily to secure limited-time exclusive releases from major third-party publishers and invested millions in weekly game giveaways. But according to Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, its store has struggled to take market share from Valve in recent years and currently sits at around 15 percent.