Randy Pitchford says Gearbox and Borderlands are like The Beatles

Not the strong comparison he thinks it is

Gearbox

Randy Pitchford has some thoughts about the Borderlands movie’s failure and Risk of Rain 2’s DLC problems – Beatles-shaped thoughts. The Borderlands creator posted on Twitter that sometimes, creators just make things that aren’t good. Gearbox does it, The Beatles did it, so as a result, he says, fans should continue showing love and support for their favorite creators.

“The greatest musical act of all time, The Beatles, had a 25% hit rate,” Pitchford said, with no evidence to support his statistic. “I’m sure every song they recorded was done with love and commitment to the art and belief in the quality of their work. I don’t know if I will ever make anything again that you like, but wouldn’t it be better for you to have that chance to decide than for artists to never create again after a marketplace miss?”

There’s a lot to unpack there, not least of which is one of the reasons fans are angry with Gearbox to begin with. The Borderlands movie flop is just part of it. The bigger issue for folks at the moment is Risk of Rain 2’s DLC, the first bit of Risk of Rain 2 since Gearbox bought developer Hopoo. It launched in a buggy state with problems ranging from weapon performance to issues with how characters play. Fixes are incoming, but that hasn’t stopped players from flooding Steam with negative reviews.

I’m going to keep making stuff. I wish everything could be a hit, but that is not how it works. The greatest musical act of all time, The Beatles, had a 25% hit rate. I’m sure every song they recorded was done with love and commitment to the art and belief in the quality of…

— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) August 28, 2024

It’s also worth noting The Beatles’ least popular albums were the ones such as Beatles for Sale and Yellow Submarine, albums with little original material that The Beatles themselves struggled to piece together with little time or inspiration. Even if this didn't come across as a false equivalence fallacy, it's not the kind of comparison one really wants to make when they’re asking fans to please spend money on it anyway.

Most of the people who responded to Pitchford reminded him of the many differences between Gearbox and the mega popular band, and one even helpfully added a list of album and single records to

The Beatles "25% hit rate" (1962-70; hit=Top 30)

UK Singles - 22 (16 #1s, 3 #2s, 1 #4, 1 #17). UK Albums - 12 (11 #1s, 1 #3). Hit rate: 100%

US Singles - 29 (18 #1s, 3 #2s, 2 #3s, 1 #4, 1 #8, 4 at #12, #17, #25, #26). US Albums- 18 (15 #1s, 2 #2s, 1 #3). Hit rate: 100%

— Desert Kites (@desertkites) September 2, 2024

Whatever the future of Risk of Rain 2, folks are still enjoying Borderlands 3 after the FPS game’s popularity surged with the Borderlands movie’s release, helped along, perhaps, by Gearbox’s Borderlands 4 announcement at Gamescom 2024. The sequel is expected to release sometime in 2025.