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You might have heard that the Borderlands movie isn’t going great, both at the box office and with the critics. However, the person who probably took it the worst wasn’t the cast and crew–it was Randy Pitchford, president and CEO of Gearbox, the company where the Borderlands games originated–with another one on the way. Pitchford’s response seemed like in good stride, even saying he was flattered.
“So what you’re saying is: You like what my friends and I do with our Borderlands video games even more than you like what some of the biggest and best cast and crew of filmmakers on the planet have done,” he tweeted. “I’m super flattered! We’re working extra hard [for] you on what’s next….”
That sort of positivity was pretty funny, as bad video game adaptations happen. But Pitchford’s response hid the fact that he was on a blocking spree. Pitchford blocked people who talked down about the movie but incidentally also colossal Borderlands fans and streamers.
Pitchford backpedaled a bit and apologized to some of those he blocked, citing “f***nuts” accounts threatening violence.
“I’ve met [Borderlands streamer Killer6] in person and maybe [popular streamer] Epic as well. Thank you so much for the heads-up! That was a mistake and I’ve fixed it,” he replied to a fan asking on why he was blocking fans. “I made at least one other mistake (dude reached out with a different account). If you hear of any other mistakes let me know. I am blocking some people who are being mean, nasty, or threatening violence. Some crazy MF’s on Twitter!”
Forbes video game journalist Paul Tassi also caught some heat when Pitchford blocked, unblocked, and then blocked again seemingly over a short time.
Pitchford apologized again and even praised Tassi and did a plug for his book. He hasn’t posted about the movie since the weekend, but added some final thoughts.
“The money surrounding the movie is the movie studio’s risk, so I’m not really affected by that, except that if the studio loses money it may not want to make another movie (which would be a shame),” he posted on social media.
Borderlands is in theaters for now, but the 4K blu-ray steelbook is also available for preorder.
