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Randy's Pitchford Corner  "Previously "Randy's Bonus and...Child Porn?!""

User is offline   Zaxx 

  • Banned

#181


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User is online   Danukem 

  • Duke Plus Developer

#182

Quote

In other words, upon satisfaction of the terms, publisher 2K Games would pay out $15 million to Gearbox split into three payments of $5 million each. These are funds earned by Pitchford and Bahl in their roles as Gearbox employees. 2K Games very much wanted Pitchford and Bahl involved in the project, and the clause ties the $15 million to three key development milestones (including “release to master” or what is commonly called “going gold”), their “attentions toward the development and success of” Borderlands 3, and their personal engagement for 30 hours per week. The word “recoupable” is important, because it indicates that the bonus was part of 2K’s funding of Borderlands 3’s development and, like most publisher expenses, must be paid back by way of royalties after the game ships.

In Callender’s original complaint, he alleged the misappropriation of funds. In his most recent amended petition, he and his attorneys have provided both the original contract clause and an amendment to the “Bonus for satisfaction of dedicated executive requirement” clause. The March 1, 2017 amendment authorizes 2K Games to divert Pitchford’s $12 million recoupable bonus to his personal company, Pitchford Entertainment, Media, and Magic. The document, which is redacted, does clearly bear signatures for both Gearbox and 2K representatives.


So the 15 million came from 2K to help Gearbox finish developing Borderlands 3. And the money is to be paid back after the game ships. Pitchford reportedly had the money diverted to his own company instead, but here's where I get completely confused. There's an amendment to the bonus contract which authorizes that very thing. This sounds shady, but not illegal.

Also, near the end of the article:

Quote

However, because the clause is written to specifically name Pitchford and Bahl, a case could be made that he earned those funds directly.
“It was likely Randy negotiating the agreement directly, so that brings up its own concerns, especially if the plan was always for Randy to receive this $12 million,”


Legally, it's murky. Ethically, yeah, it sure sounds like the bonus should have gone to other Gearbox employees. But then again, the money all has to be paid back to 2K anyway, so it's essentially a loan.
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#183

Wish I had 12 million dollars would buy out Duke Nukem, make anew Duke Nukem game but I know just a fucking guy living at home wishing that.
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User is offline   ---- 

#184

View PostDuke Legacy, on 21 June 2019 - 09:15 AM, said:

Wish I had 12 million dollars would buy out Duke Nukem, make anew Duke Nukem game but I know just a fucking guy living at home wishing that.


You still need the publishing rights from Take Two. So, make it a few millions more.

This post has been edited by fuegerstef: 21 June 2019 - 10:51 AM

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User is online   Danukem 

  • Duke Plus Developer

#185

I think anyone with that much money to make a Duke game would come to the conclusion that it's better to save the millions on the IP and make something inspired by Duke instead. You could even hire JSJ to do the voice.
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#186

Indeed, brand recognition can be one hell of a double-edged sword.
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#187

View Postthricecursed, on 19 June 2019 - 01:46 AM, said:

Former Gearbox employee provides proof Randy Pitchford diverted funds to personal company:

https://gamedaily.bi...impression=true


*grabs popcorn*
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User is offline   MusicallyInspired 

  • The Sarien Encounter

#188

View Postfuegerstef, on 21 June 2019 - 10:51 AM, said:

You still need the publishing rights from Take Two. So, make it a few millions more.


Don't they only have publishing rights for DNF?
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User is offline   Mark 

#189

I think Duke's future lies in more company supported fan projects like IM.
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User is online   Danukem 

  • Duke Plus Developer

#190

View PostTrooper Dan, on 11 May 2019 - 10:37 AM, said:

Unless someone hijacked his Twitter account, Randy is doing this to himself.

He's not going to resign.
There's not going to be a walkout.
Randy will continue to be Randy and will continue to be the CEO for the next few years at least.
Borderlands 3 will do extremely well despite Randy's behavior.

Those are my predictions. :o


https://venturebeat....rlands-3-sales/

Borderlands 3 has already sold more than 5 million copies, making it the fastest selling game in the history of 2K. Remember all the Randy mini-scandals that were going to drive people away? Remember how he needed to resign? Remember how people weren't going to buy the game because it is on the Epic store? How about more recently, when review bombing on meta-critic because of day 1 technical issues were going to tank it?

I don't like 2K, and Randy is his own worst enemy. But it's still gratifying --and completely unsurprising-- to see that this flawed but nonetheless very good game that some of us have been waiting years to play is successful.

Anyone wanting a new Duke game should be happy about this, too, because it means that Gearbox could develop one with some of the pocket change from Borderlands 3 sales.
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User is offline   NightFright 

  • The Truth is in here

#191

Gearbox is Borderlands and Borderlands is Gearbox. It totally defines the company and keeps saving its ass time and again. Good for Randy that he has such a title since he would be looking for a new job for quite a while now otherwise.

From my perspective 5 million sold copies unfortunately also means that too few people refrained from not buying the game right away due to its 1-year Epic exclusiveness. Since the strategy obviously worked, they will keep doing this. On the other hand, I will also not buy the game before it comes to Steam, and certainly not at full price.

This post has been edited by NightFright: 27 September 2019 - 11:39 PM

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User is offline   Radar 

  • King of SOVL

#192

Borderlands' success does not excite me about the future of Duke. Under no circumstance should Gearbox develop a new Duke game.
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User is offline   Sledgehammer 

  • Once you start doubting, there's no end to it

#193

Quote

surpasses 5 million copies shipped

What a typical bullshit "article" that is trying to imply that shipped means sold. I mean sure, technically those copies were bought by stores, however, there is still a big difference between stores and consumers. Until the company itself show the actual data related to sales, meaning, real sale numbers, a number of copies bought by people (which probably will never happen anyway, otherwise there would be a straightforward article about real sales number), this is honestly nothing, especially if we speak of Epic Store (which is pretty much a typical attempt at damage control).

As for success, that's a very different thing altogether, especially considering that most of the time success depends a lot from company's expectations overall.

In other words:
Posted Image

EDIT: I thought I was mistaken when I read "2K has shipped 5 million copies of Borderlands 3, and it says that over 70% of those sales were digital" and was about to take my words back, but then I re-checked again and nah, this article is bullshit, there is no link to that claim as well which is also worded rather poorly. This is yet another PR article.

This post has been edited by Sledgehammer: 28 September 2019 - 11:19 AM

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User is offline   Sledgehammer 

  • Once you start doubting, there's no end to it

#194

View PostSpitfire, on 28 September 2019 - 08:33 AM, said:

Under no circumstance should Gearbox develop a new Duke game.

I hope he stays dead, the world does not deserve a new Duke Nukem game, not yet. Don't think there is someone who has both enough balls and real talent to make a new Duke game, IMO.

Would like to see remasters of older titles (from consoles mainly), but Gearbox on its own would completely fuck it up.

This post has been edited by Sledgehammer: 28 September 2019 - 11:24 AM

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User is offline   NightFright 

  • The Truth is in here

#195

The only ones who could/should currently be entrusted with the Duke franchise would be Devolver or Voidpoint IMHO.

This post has been edited by NightFright: 28 September 2019 - 11:50 AM

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User is offline   Outtagum 

#196

View PostSpitfire, on 28 September 2019 - 08:33 AM, said:

Borderlands' success does not excite me about the future of Duke. Under no circumstance should Gearbox develop a new Duke game.

Especially the writing in Borderlands. Childish humor, obnoxious insufferable characters, sjw nonsense.

DNF was already showing signs of Gearbox stupidity (hive girl dialogue, Dylan). I can see them trying that shit again and doing much worse.

This post has been edited by Outtagum: 28 September 2019 - 12:07 PM

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User is offline   Radar 

  • King of SOVL

#197

I'm not sure if even Voidpoint is up to the task. That's not downplaying their potential, it's just I don't think that's the direction they're trying to go. A new Duke title is not a good way to gain solid footing in the industry. A modern Duke game isn't done right unless it pisses off every feminist, communist, and pedophile in the industry.

This post has been edited by Spitfire '15: 28 September 2019 - 02:00 PM

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User is online   Danukem 

  • Duke Plus Developer

#198

View PostSledgehammer, on 28 September 2019 - 10:57 AM, said:

EDIT: I thought I was mistaken when I read "2K has shipped 5 million copies of Borderlands 3, and it says that over 70% of those sales were digital" and was about to take my words back, but then I re-checked again and nah, this article is bullshit, there is no link to that claim as well which is also worded rather poorly. This is yet another PR article.


Lots of sites are reporting the same number, and it all comes from the same press release. So, if you want to believe that 2K is lying about their sales, then go ahead, but don't blame that article in particular.

A little perspective, though. Predictions of sales were so overblown, apparently, that 2K's stock actually dipped 5% after the press release, because they weren't considered high enough:

https://www.tweaktow...-dip/index.html

This post has been edited by Trooper Dan: 28 September 2019 - 12:32 PM

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User is offline   Sledgehammer 

  • Once you start doubting, there's no end to it

#199

I don't think they're lying exactly, I think they're just doing the usual "our game became a huge success" PR, probably to impress investors, without actually presenting real numbers, like companies always do these days. The pic I linked pretty much sums it up: "it's nothing".

View PostTrooper Dan, on 28 September 2019 - 12:23 PM, said:

Lots of sites are reporting the same number

A lot of "journalists" tend to write the same articles and steal from each other. But that's a bit different topic. :o

I get what you're saying, for the record.

This post has been edited by Sledgehammer: 28 September 2019 - 01:22 PM

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User is online   Danukem 

  • Duke Plus Developer

#200

View PostSledgehammer, on 28 September 2019 - 01:16 PM, said:

I don't think they're lying exactly, I think they're just doing the usual "our game became a huge success" PR, probably to impress investors, without actually presenting real numbers, like companies always do these days. The pic I linked pretty much sums it up: "it's nothing".


But it's not nothing. The game is pretty successful, and that's something. It may not be the biggest blockbuster in history like 2K would want us to believe, but it's doing quite well.
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User is offline   Tea Monster 

  • Polymancer

#201

View PostDuke Legacy, on 21 June 2019 - 09:15 AM, said:

Wish I had 12 million dollars would buy out Duke Nukem, make anew Duke Nukem game but I know just a fucking guy living at home wishing that.


After that 12 million, and the extra millions to buy out Take2, you then need even MORE millions to set up/hire a studio and make the damn game.
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User is offline   Zaxx 

  • Banned

#202

Making a game? Nah, you just call it Duke Nukem Whenever and sit on it.
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User is offline   NightFright 

  • The Truth is in here

#203

Regardless what they do, it's gonna be a solid 70, 75 at the very least. If you ask Randy.
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#204

Duke Nukem Forever 10th Anniversary World Turd Tour Edition.

This post has been edited by Lazy Dog: 29 September 2019 - 03:08 PM

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User is offline   Mr.Torture 

#205

Duke Nukem 3D composer sues Randy Pitchford, Gearbox and Valve for using his music in Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour without permission.

https://www.pcgamer....arbox-and-valve

:o

This post has been edited by Mr.Torture: 29 September 2019 - 04:59 PM

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User is offline   MusicallyInspired 

  • The Sarien Encounter

#206

^ Already a thread for this in the Duke subforum.
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User is offline   Jimmy 

  • Let's go Brandon!

#207

View PostSpitfire, on 28 September 2019 - 08:33 AM, said:

Borderlands' success does not excite me about the future of Duke. Under no circumstance should Gearbox develop a new Duke game.

Absolutely this. Duke needs to stay totally fucking dead as long as Gearbox owns them.
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User is offline   Player Lin 

#208

View PostJim Rockford, on 30 September 2019 - 05:31 PM, said:

Absolutely this. Duke needs to stay totally fucking dead as long as Gearbox owns them.


I tried to build some hopes but...Randy and Gearbox Shovelware can even f***ed up on music license then I guess I can finally throw them out of my house window, which is on 4th floor...
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#209

I didn't had any hope in Gearbox to begin with...

This post has been edited by Lazy Dog: 01 October 2019 - 10:29 AM

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User is offline   Outtagum 

#210

Despite Huge Sales, Borderlands 3 Developers Are Getting Stiffed On Bonuses
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