He thinks that the context of his comment about microtransactions „wholly exonerates” him.

There will be microtransactions in Borderlands 3 (we previously wrote about it), but Pitchford, the head of Gearbox, has attacked GameInformer about it. Across a few tweets, he has expressed his views about the situation: „Did you watch it [the Borderlands 3 gameplay reveal event]? I literally explained what we *were* doing literal seconds before mentioning microtransactions in the context of F2P tactics which we are NOT doing. GameInformer omitted context and used words that caused you to believe I had lied. I did not. There are tons of free cosmetics that are part of the game. That’s what I was talking about at that moment. When I mentioned microtransactions, it was clearly in the context of F2P tactics. Later, Sage talked about future DLC type cosmetics ala Borderlands 2. That is likely, not certain.

Also, context matters. The words I said immediately prior to the word “microtransactions” combined with the context of prior record with Borderlands games combined with the practices witnessed in the industry of competitive titles should, on the whole, be exonerating. Please respect the context of the ten sentences prior to the sentence you reference along with the history of the Borderlands franchise on this point. The sum of that context is wholly exonerating of any claims of willful misinformation. Sorry for any confusion. In the same breath I said, “If you have played prior Borderlands games, you will feel right at home.” This was meant to signal a commitment to following in the traditions we have established. You can trust that – it’s as solid as the Earth,” Pitchford said. He took the explanation a bit long, but in short, he says that Borderlands 3 will not work in a free-to-play model/approach, which would be weird, as it will cost 60 dollars/euros when it launches. An AAA game might not pull such a move off. (Star Wars: Battlefront II in 2017, however, did, though…)

Borderlands 3 is going to launch on September 13 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Gearbox Sofware’s game will be exclusive to the Epic Games Store for half a year on PC.

Source: WCCFTech