There I was, scanning the news this morning to see what was going on, when I spotted a tech blog about a yet-to-be-announced Pixel Watch 5 being found by a friend of…Randy Pitchford? The co-founder of Gearbox and one of the creators behind Borderlands? What???
On May 31, Randy Pitchford posted on Twitter that “a few days ago” one of his friends was scuba diving near the island of St. Martin in the northeastern Caribbean and found a watch seemingly left behind by someone. However, as noted by Pitchford and seen in photos posted online, the watch was marked as a Pixel Watch 5. This is a device that hasn’t been released yet or even officially announced by Google, though many expected it to be coming.
According to Pitchford, his friend asked him to have a look because he believes the Borderlands boss is “connected in the tech industry.” Pitchford posted two images of the watch online and asked to see if anyone could help him contact the owner of the watch and return it. Pitchford has since claimed that he’s in contact with the owner, adding: “If you find something that isn’t yours, pay it forward and try to return it to its rightful owner.”
A friend of mine found this watch a few days ago ~underwater~ when he was scuba diving near the island of St. Martin. He noted that the reverse of the watch indicates that it is a Google Pixel 5, which has not yet been announced, let alone released. It seems to be fine. The face… pic.twitter.com/Mnenov1sFE
— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) May 31, 2026
As pointed out by GMSArena, the Pixel Watch 5 seen in Pitchford’s photos has a few markings that reveal some specs, including IP68 ingress protection, and that confirm a heart rate sensor, UWB chip, pulse sensor, and skin temp tracking. Others have pointed out that it has some slight differences from the Pixel Watch 4 and suggest this is indeed a real, pre-release model of the upcoming Google device.
Funnily enough, while many tech bloggers and writers seem to believe the watch is real even if the story seems…fishy (sorry), gamers online are calling out Pitchford and claiming he’s lying or trying to farm attention. Others are suggesting he was paid off by Google to “leak” the device ahead of a big reveal, but I’m just not convinced Google would want Pitchford of all people to leak this thing. And historically, tech giants like Google and Apple have had a horrible track record of unreleased devices leaking ahead of launch.
Anyway, here’s your first look at what is likely the next Pixel Watch, courtesy of Randy Pitchford. Weird world.