Randy Pitchford Magically Resurrected a Dead Internet Horse in 2025

In addition to being the CEO of Gearbox, Randy Pitchford is known for being a chronic tweeter and a self-proclaimed warlock. That said, Pitchford just performed his greatest magic trick in a new Shacknews documentary about Borderlands 4, resurrecting the most tedious video game debate from 2010. At the end of the documentary, the CEO enthusiastically states that the whole industry is just getting started. Following this statement, he’d drop the line everyone thought was retired, claiming games have not even had their Citizen Kane moment yet.

Randy Pitchford Once Again Asks About Art

It’s been a long time since gamers heard that phrase unironically. Yet, Pitchford’s statement has everyone feeling as if they’ve been transported back to the late 2000s, a period defined by the industry’s collective insecurity. For gamers and developers, a single, paralyzing question has once again become an obsession: Were video games legitimate art, just like novels and films?

This quest to find the next so-called Citizen Kane of gaming has become incessant chatter, a desperate plea for validation from other older mediums. Games like Bioshock have been stamped with this weighty label largely because they involve philosophical ideas. Apparently, having big ideas automatically turned code and pixels into high art, a logic that felt airtight at the time.

The Great Artistic Insecurity Complex Returns

While this whole debate feels incredibly quaint, players seem to be revisiting its awkward, teenage phase of gaming culture. As the audience for games has grown up, they’re becoming less desperate for parental approval. Despite the fact that Citizen Kane is a classic, most people no longer need an official art stamp to enjoy their hobby. So, why would Pitchford suddenly dig up this fossilized talking point in today’s era of gaming? Despite how bizarre the statement was, it’s certainly an almost charming “blast from the past” moment for many.

This notion that the medium still lacks that one legitimizing masterpiece feels completely out of touch with today’s diverse and confident gaming landscape. Randy Pitchford may have had good intentions with the claim, but his time-traveling take is a humorous reminder of how far the conversation has evolved. Today, the industry has created a whole museum of incredible and varied experiences, making the need for a single Citizen Kane irrelevant. With a universe of games on YouTube and beyond, who really needs one defining masterpiece? Maybe the best magic trick one can pull off is making that old insecurity disappear for good.