Buckle up, everyone, because this is going to be a real doozy of a news post.
There are two lawsuits recently filed between Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford and the former general counsel for Gearbox. They're both suing each other, both claiming the other were in violation of their legal responsibilities to the company. The lawsuit against Pitchford from the former Gearbox lawyer Wade Callender says that Pitchford received a secret $12 million bonus from Take-Two Interactive.
Callender's lawsuit, filed December 21, 2018, also says that Pitchford is in violation of some contracts that involve Gearbox and a "separate real estate company" that both of them owned. Gearbox says that these accusations are "absurd" in a brief statement released today by a Gearbox spokesperson.
"The allegations made by a disgruntled former employee are absurd, with no basis in reality or law," said a Gearbox spokesperson in a statement to Kotaku. "We look forward to addressing this meritless lawsuit in court and have no further comment at this time."
Callender's lawsuit against Randy Pitchford says that Pitchford made a deal back in 2016 to receive a secret "Executive Bonus" of $12 million that would be paid to Pitchford under an entity called "Pitchford Entertainment Media Magic, LLC." The lawsuit says that this $12 million was an advance on "royalties that would otherwise go to Gearbox's staff" for use in funding Borderlands development.
This is where things go a bit further off the rails.
Callender's lawsuit goes on to say that in 2014 Randy Pitchford left a USB drive in a Dallas, Texas restaurant that contained sensitive corporate data for Gearbox and its partners. These partners include 2K Games, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, and more. The lawsuit continues on to claim:
"Upon information and belief, Randy Pitchford’s USB drive also contained Randy Pitchford’s personal collection of ‘underage’ pornography."
(Pitchford held parties where) "adult men have reportedly exposed themselves to minors, to the amusement of Randy Pitchford."
Gearbox suit against Callender by on Scribd
Gearbox lawsuit by on Scribd
Arstechnica has an update on the story. According to a December 22 podcast episode of The Piff Pod, Pitchford admits that he copied a specific video to a memory stick in order to conduct research for a magic trick.
A NSFW description of the video, in Pitchford's own words, follows in the spoiler...
"I realized, this is not a sex worker," Pitchford said on the show. "This is a fucking magician." Pitchford, for those unaware, has a vested interest in the field of magicians and owns the magic-focused Genii Magazine.
"This was before I learned I should probably have password-protected memory sticks," Pitchford says, before admitting that he had indeed left a USB flash drive at a Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament restaurant. "Some kid, an employee of Medieval Times, discovered this memory stick, took it home... and discovered secrets of my company and future games in development, and also discovered the pornography. It was 'barely legal' porn. This girl's handle was 'Only 18.'" The USB flash drive was returned to Gearbox, Pitchford says, in exchange for "swag" and video games.
via: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/...wsuit-alleges/