Gearbox Software’s Pitchford on being a magician & the importance of offering choices

randy pitchford

LAS VEGAS — Gearbox Software chief executive Randy Pitchford runs one of the most successful studios in video games, with hits such as Borderlands 2 dominating sales charts. But Pitchford practices magic of the literal kind. He paid his way through college as a magician and even got married in the Magic Castle magician’s theater in Hollywood.

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Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.