One of the most popular ways that creators come up with content for their projects isn’t just to “make stuff off the top of their heads,” though many are quite good at doing just that. Instead, they base things on their real lives and experiences so that there’s an even deeper connection to things than there was before. Sometimes, it’s as simple as recreating a family moment that forever sticks in your head. Or, in the case of Randy Pitchford, it’s paying tribute to an airport guy who just so happened to recognize you…even though he didn’t actually recognize you.
As we all know by this point, Randy is the head of Gearbox Software, and he’s also one of the most temperamental people in all of the gaming industry. After all, this is the guy who went after fans for calling out Borderlands 4 and all its flaws, basically challenging fans to “do better” with certain elements, or to straight-up get a refund if they didn’t like the game they were playing! So, yeah, he took things a bit far. Yet, on the team’s trip to Australia, where they were to do a special Comic Con event to detail more things about the company’s latest title, Randy Pitchford had an experience he straight-up wants to immortalize in the title.
Specifically, he was “recognized” at an airport in a way that really resonated with him:
So, yeah, that is indeed memorable. Granted, Randy is one of the more well-known people in the gaming industry, but can you really say you’d know him on sight if you bumped into him on the street? Or, in this case, in an airport? Plus, again, he was in Australia! You’d think it would be even lower odds that someone would recognize him there, and yet, someone was able to ask the right question at the right time.
But what was Randy’s answer? Well, someone did ask him that on Twitter, and he replied:
“I wish I was quicker on my feet and said something like, “Look at my shirt!?!” But I just said, “I am Randy Pitchford.” He asked to shake my hand, then made me walk through the scanner again because it didn’t like my shirt.”
And now you can see why he wants to make an NPC or side quest after the guy. That is memorable indeed. We’re sure Randy will do this at some point, and hopefully, it doesn’t take too long to find that airport fan!
