Randy Pitchford, Gearbox boss, has continued his odd yet entertaining thread of replying to just about anyone online who doesn’t like what he has to say with long, confusing responses.
This time around, after someone pointed out the recent failures of both the Borderlands movie, which crashed and burned at the box office, and a Risk of Rain 2 expansion, which ended up being a bit of a train wreck, Pitchford decided to defend himself by comparing Gearbox to—and I’m completely serious here—The Beatles.
“I’m going to keep making stuff,” Pitchford says in a Twitter reply. “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 their work. My favourite artists, performers, and entertainers have all made things I didn’t like so much.”
The Beatles released 213 songs (188 originals and 25 covers), 22 of which were singles, during their time together. The band has 18 number-one singles in the UK, second only to Elvis Presley, and 20 number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100, the most of any artist. In terms of albums they released while the band was together, there are 14, 11 of which charted at number-one in the US.
Obviously, I don’t think The Beatles’ legacy is comparable to Gearbox games—certainly not the Borderlands movie. It’s been a while since I played an enjoyable Gearbox game—Borderlands 3 was kind of fun, with entertaining characters and decent action, but it doesn’t come close to my list of top 10 titles. I feel like Gearbox gives off more Nickelback vibes. You’ve got some decent hits in there (I defy you to tell me How You Remind Me isn’t a banger), but a ‘good band’? Eh, debatable. If I were to liken The Beatles to any games studio, then it would probably be Rockstar.
It probably won’t shock you to find that I’m not the only one who thinks Pitchford’s comparison is out of tune: “Hi, Randy,” one player says in response. “When The Beatles released new songs, they didn’t retroactively make their older songs significantly worse and/ literally impossible to listen to. They also didn’t do this to other people’s music. Hope this helps:).”
“It’s cool,” Pitchford continues, undeterred. “When artists have a miss, that’s when they need fans the most to root them on so they are motivated to keep creating. 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?”
While I agree that it’s great to support creatives, it’s also important to dish out constructive criticism where it’s needed. The Risk of Rain 2 expansion, Seekers of the Storm, has some glaringly obvious issues, including disproportionate pricing and technical errors, like tying Risk of Rain 2’s physics system to its framerate.
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