Let’s see what Gearbox thinks about the developers saying they did not get the money they were promised.

Previously, we wrote about how Randy Pitchford, the head of Gearbox, did not provide the bonuses to his employees, even though the game did hit certain sales milestones since its September launch. However, until now, we had nothing from Gearbox regarding this matter. Maxime Babin, the director of the game, revealed a different standpoint on LinkedIn.

Babin previously worked at indie and AAA studios alike, meaning there is some experience under that belt. Babin claims that the employees’ claims were incorrect, and took issue with those who „try to spin or hide the truth.” Gearbox has a royalty system. It rewards every developer within the company, regardless of their position and what their projects are. As part of this system’s process, the company’s management uses transparency to share earnings and sales projections. However, these are – as it says on the tin – projections, and not promises. The management put the bar too high with Borderlands 3’s sales projections.

Yet, Babin added that Borderlands 3 is now making a profit, which means that the devs start to get royalties. However, there was „an expectation gap” between what the devs hoped for and what the reality was. „It is particularly painful to have to discuss this at a time when millions of people outside the video game industry are struggling financially. A few months ago, Randy decided to give away 30% of his company to the employees because he believes that those who participate should get a piece of the returns. I’m honestly surprised that this isn’t what’s making the news right now – this is huge!”, Babin added.

Babin suggested that Pitchford was not the only person behind these initial projections, but he had to bear the brunt when the projections were too high. Still, more and more developers rally behind Babin.

At least we heard the other side.

Source: PSL

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