“Bro, the game only costs $ 20”: Randy Pitchford laughed at reviewers asking for a code on Tribes of Midgard

Last week the publishing division of the company Gearbox launched a survival simulator Tribes of midgard from the studio Norsfell Games… The project became a hit, quickly breaking the mark of 250 thousand players on PC, Playstation 4 and Playstation 5, and against this background, the interest in him on the part of Western journalists, most likely, has increased.

The situation was commented on by the head of Gearbox Randy Pitchford, who actually laughed at the media representatives. He believes that they themselves could have bought the game, because it costs only $ 19.99

“It’s amazing to receive letters from journalists, critics and influencers who describe in three paragraphs how successful they are, in the hope that it will convince us to send them a free code. Of course, here is your code … But … bro .. . Tribes of Midgard costs only $ 20 … “, – wrote Pitchford.

In the comments under the post, a skirmish immediately ensued. Some users advised Pitchford “not to walk on thin ice”, but the developer’s position also found supporters.

“It looks like you’re underestimating the power of influencers, look no matter how hard it comes around,” replied one of the users.

“Randy, do you understand that they review more than one game a month? Let’s say 10. Multiply that by your $ 20 and you get 200. That’s a lot of money, especially for those who do not make money on games made on their knees, which are then supplemented expensive DLC “.

“That’s right, so them, Randy – we don’t need reviewers at all in 2023,” a developer supporter blurted out.

Some considered Pitchford’s message to be simply “ugly” and called the Gearbox chapter “two-faced,” as the creators of the Tribes of Midgard recently invited bloggers and the media themselves to submit requests for keys to compile reviews… Commentators also cited examples of the rise in popularity of various games after they began to be praised by journalists and streamers, which ultimately allows developers to earn much more.

Some representatives of the media also noted themselves under the message. They called Pitchford’s post weird and gave their reasons for using the free codes. For example, this is the desire to have time to write a review before the game goes on sale, as well as work on the stream – the need to quickly test all new items.

“We’ve reviewed 1,600 games during our tenure. If you take your example with $ 20 (although most games are more expensive), all of these games would cost us over $ 32,000 to buy …

As for information about ourselves in key requests, we add it out of respect for developers and publishers, “wrote Switch Player Magazine author Benjamin Hayhoye.

“1. Submitting information about yourself for any request is a standard in literally every industry.

2. Your portal for communication with influences requires you to provide information about yourself.

3. You exploited your employees during the pandemic, “added blogger Arlo.

“This is a completely inappropriate tweet. Why invite reviewers to submit submissions and then publicly ridicule them?”

“The millionaire sits and tells how cheap and affordable everything is. Well, it’s pretty cute,” wrote an employee of the Playtonic Games studio.

“Gearbox: Contact us for the code.

Also Gearbox: Lol, why are you writing to us about the codes? “- Daily Mirror columnist Ryan Brown replied to Pitchford.

The head of Gearbox did not respond to messages.

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