Gearbox Software CEO Randy Pitchford has accused Kotaku of using “outrage as currency” for publishing a “false” report about Borderlands 3 bonuses.
Kotaku’s Jason Schreier reported that he had heard from Borderlands 3 developers that their promised bonuses, tied to the game’s sales, were being docked by Pitchford. Following the report, game director Maxime Babin took to LinkedIn to defend Gearbox’s royalty scheme and penned a lengthy note to explain how it works. Babin’s post saw a number of Gearbox developers speak out in support of the scheme, and express their disappointment over how Kotaku handled the report. However, that hasn’t stopped people from criticizing Pitchford on Twitter, prompting him to speak out.
In a series of tweets, Pitchford wrote:
The article claims anonymous sources and mentions three only in a sentence that confirms that a meeting took place. Two sources confirming a meeting are the statement from Gearbox and the PR person who delivered it. It’s the tabloid narrative that is a lie.
Whatever you read was created by someone who profits from your attention and is rewarded for inspiring outrage that may motivate you to share the story with others. That story is false. The tone and self contradiction of the story betray its purpose – it was designed to profit from your attention. The only people that matter in the discussion is the team of Gearbox. IMO, they are the most talented and employable game developers in the world.
You may ask yourself about the business that website that posted the story is in. In that world, their content is 100% derived from the behavior of others. Outrage is currency.
Kotaku has yet to comment or publish a follow-up to its report.
[Source: Randy Pitchford]
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