Borderlands 4 Dev Reflects on Game Preservation, Mortality, and the “Stop Killing Games” Movement

Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford on Stop Killing Games

Borderlands 4 is just hours away from launch, and Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford has been busy promoting it on various media platforms.

In one such interview, he also shared his thoughts on the Stop Killing Games initiative, offering a surprisingly philosophical take on game preservation.

The initiative, spearheaded by Ross Scott, gained momentum after Ubisoft delisted The Crew, rendering it unplayable. Scott’s petition calls for developers to allow games to live on through private or community servers once official support ends. It’s a movement that’s sparked both praise and pushback across the industry — and Pitchford’s response lands somewhere in the middle.

Speaking to The Gamer, Pitchford admitted, “I’ve lost games, and it’s an emotional experience, so I admire the activism.” But he also pointed out the inherent contradiction in preserving live-service games indefinitely. “If we’re going to have any games that are sincere live services, it seems mutually exclusive to have something that’s going to be a living thing that can’t be allowed to die. I don’t know how to get around that.”

His reflections didn’t stop at game design. Pitchford went full existential, comparing the desire to preserve games to humanity’s fight against mortality. “I hate the fact that someday, the people I care about aren’t going to be here, and someday I’m not going to be here,” he said. “But I love our fight against that… maybe tomorrow we could live even longer, and our games could live even longer.”

Pitchford also mentioned Battleborn, Gearbox’s now-defunct hero shooter, which is now entirely reliant on community mods to be playable. He described the game as a metaphor for entropy, explaining it "was about the last star that would exist before that moment, because all of the stars in the universe will end." He added, "And I kind of hate that… and I love that I hate that, because it makes me want to fight against it."

For now, Stop Killing Games is still gaining attention without clear solutions in sight. Pitchford’s reflections don’t offer a roadmap either, but they do add weight to the conversation.

Borderlands 4 is set to release on September 12, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, Steam, and Epic Games Store.