Gearbox's Randy Pitchford celebrates Borderlands 4 going gold by explaining what that means: "The moment we're done is about as monumental as anything we experience in our lives"

An old man with a staff in Borderlands 4.

Borderlands 4 has officially gone gold, Gearbox has announced, and just in case you don't know exactly what that means, let studio head Randy Pitchford put his reading glasses on, lean back in his creaky wooden rocking chair, and tell you the origin story behind the phrase.

Alternatively, if you're short on time, I can just tell you real quick: it means the game's done, theoretically anyway. These days, developers continue working on games up to and through release, fixing bugs and working on future content releases. But, essentially, it means Gearbox has a master copy of the game that's, again theoretically, ready for launch.