The head of Gearbox, Randy Pitchford, has attacked the gaming site Kotaku. They wrote about promised rewards for Borderlands 3 in an insider report. Pitchford says that it is all quite different. He brings an employee into play who explains from his perspective how fair and good it is at Gearbox.
This is the report in question: In early April, the US site Kotaku published an insider report. They claimed to have spoken with 6 employees of Gearbox. There is trouble regarding the bonus payments after the success of Borderlands 3: they turned out to be lower than what was initially communicated to the employees.
The employees had expected high six-figure amounts when Borderlands 3 was released and the anticipated huge success materialized. However, Pitchford informed the employees on March 31, 2020, that the bonuses would now be significantly lower than expected:
This is because Gearbox has grown, had to deal with some flops and Borderlands 3 was more expensive to develop than planned.
There was less from the bear’s skin to distribute than initially thought.
As Kotaku describes, employees at Gearbox are paid less than at other companies, but they firmly expect these high bonus payments.
The article gives the impression that things are unfair at Gearbox. Pitchford reportedly indulged himself with a large bonus in 2016, while employees now stand relatively poorly. This has angered Gearbox employees, and many expect that many will leave the company.
Pitchford vehemently defends against insider report on Borderlands 3
This is how it continued: The conflict-prone head of Gearbox, Randy Pitchford, was initially unusually quiet on this topic. In recent days, however, he has been repeatedly confronted on Twitter with the article.
Users posted a link to the Kotaku article with the statement: First pay your employees properly.
A Twitter user particularly criticized Pitchford. The user said Pitchford should choke on his millions. He will never understand what it is like to earn “normally” and should get lost into irrelevance.
To the user, Pitchford replied that the “motherfucker” should get lost into irrelevance as well. Pitchford claimed to have only earned $28,000 a year and lived in a small apartment when he worked on Duke Nukem 3d. He started from the “bottom” and knows what it is like to earn “normally.”
Pitchford also stated that the Kotaku article was deliberately framed to provoke outrage, as the medium profits from this outrage. The article would mislead readers. He considered it unreliable.
Employee defends Pitchford
This is how Pitchford claims it really is: Pitchford links to a report by Maxime Babin, a Game Director at Gearbox in Quebec. Pitchford calls him a credible, confirmed source – while the Kotaku article only cites “anonymous” sources and is not trustworthy.
Babin praises Gearbox’s bonus system as transparent, mathematical, and objective. The system allows employees to reap the successes of the entire studio.
He says: Employees were shown various scenarios of how successful Borderlands 3 would be and what the bonus payments would look like in each case.
This created an “expectation gap” as Borderlands 3 did not yield the anticipated bonuses, and Pitchford said expectations had to be lowered. Pitchford personally communicated this disappointing news to the team and clearly stated what the situation was. Babin highly appreciates this.
Babin says: Making numbers transparent is not a promise that it will really happen. Additionally, employees have already received bonuses, and more are yet to come.
Pitchford allegedly distributed 30% of the company to employees
The employee also states: Pitchford transferred 30% of the company to his employees a few months ago to involve them in the company’s success.
Under Babin’s article, other Gearbox employees comment with their names and echo the same sentiment. One should not let “a few dissatisfied employees” dictate the story, it is stated there.
Two sides of the same story
This is what it’s about: The facts presented by both sources do not differ greatly, but the perception and representation are different:
- Kotaku spoke with “dissatisfied, anonymous employees.” They feel disadvantaged because the actual bonus payments fell short of the communicated expectations.
- The satisfied, openly appearing employees are fine with this; they did not understand these communicated expectations as promises, but as possibilities. They explicitly praise the bonus system and appreciate that Pitchford communicated it so transparently and clearly.
Randy Pitchford is one of the most colorful personalities in the gaming industry. There is a story going around about him that he once stuck a wet finger in the ear of David Eddings, the former voice of Claptrap. Yes, Randy Pitchford allegedly gave a grown man a wet flick.
