Gearbox "stole" money from SEGA, used them for other projects

[Gabbynaruto]

Gearbox used a majority of the funding from Sega, on
several occasions, to fund every project they created. This dates back
to Duke Nukem Forever, where it is fundamentally believed Gearbox
used the Sega money to even purchase the rights to finish the game.
Gearbox did not have that sort of cash at the time and only had the Sega
contract in place. Where else would that money magically arrive from?
Gearbox might have rationalized they would make enough off of Duke Nukem to get that money back, but it's still a very poor business decision.

The next batches of money were used heavily in funding Borderlands and Borderlands 2,
the two flagship titles that company essentially became known for. Of
these three titles that used Sega funding, none of them were Sega games.
This meant Sega saw zero profits from the sales of them, and instead
watched their money get flushed down the toilet. It is believed Sega
only greenlighted the Aliens game to release so they could recoup
what they could of all the lost funding. Remember, this is essentially
six years of abuse out of Gearbox. They signed too many contracts,
didn't have the money to support them, and thus used Sega's money to
finish other products while they practically completely outsourced the
game Sega already paid for to a company that was too small to handle it.
Why? Probably because Gearbox got them to do it for such a cheap cost.

Source

Well, not sure if true or not, but, it's rather interesting. Personally, I liked Borderlands 2, but it's a shame that the people behind it are into such business, and I really hope they receive proper punishment if all this is true. Thoughts?

 

[Sanoblue]

BL 2 money shoulda fixed all the account balances

oh and 1st post lol

 

[Shuji1987]

Damn, you beat me to it.
Here is what I would have written

Apparently, Gearbox has been literally stealing from Sega for 6 years. This all came to light when an anonymous Sega employee spilled the beans on his blog (who's been known to do so every now and then). Funding that was supposed to go towards ACM went to Borderlands 1 and 2 and even the craptastic Duke Nukem Forever.

A couple of quotes:

"Now here is the company that should get most of the blame: Gearbox Software and Randy Pitchford. Gearbox stole from SEGA, they robbed us, lied to us about the game, and tried to get another company to make the game instead. Let's see where the funding went shall we? Everyone said the game went to both Borderlands games, but Duke Nukem Forever gets a mention as well, but it's pushed out of the spotlight, because people want to forget about that game, and I don't blame them! Duke Nukem Forever had a big impact on Aliens: Colonial Marines as well."

"So Gearbox essentially lied to SEGA, mishandled funds, broke agreements and contractual obligations to work on other projects, didn't want to work on a game they were contractually obligated to work on and gave it to another team, poor organization and direction on ACM, took on too many projects from different companies at once, and other things that we may not even know about. Hell, part of me believes that Gearbox wanted this thing delayed as much as possible so they can get more funding money to embezzle from SEGA."

Read the full article here.

 

[Veho]

If this is true, Gearbox are scum.

 

[iluvfupaburgers]

I don't know about duke nukem, but aliens wasn't what it should have been due to there being too many developers involved, not just gearbox. Maybe this could be some other problem involved with the development of the game as well

 

[Snailface]

At least this allows for us to blame gearbox for Aliens CMs instead of the WiiU's hardware.

Nintendo fanbois can relax until the next lousy 3rd party game.

 

[Bladexdsl]

Gearbox stole our moniez! still wouldn't have helped ACM, that game was doomed from the start.

This dates back
to Duke Nukem Forever, where it is fundamentally believed Gearbox
used the Sega money to even purchase the rights to finish the game.

they must not have stole enough then

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

Steroids and meth do not mix well....

 

[Gahars]

I really feel awful for Sega in this situation. Whether or not Gearbox embezzled the money (and it's looking more and more likely that they did), they got royally screwed over.

They made the contract with Gearbox in 2006, and were strung along year after year until this turd was finally dropped on the marketplace. The game sold well at launch, sure, but those numbers are going to plummet. The damage control required is going to be long and extensive - if it's salvageable at all.

Mr. Pitchford, I won't say you're a thief, but you are one hell of a douchebag. You have no one to blame but yourself for every penny you lose.

 

[Hadrian]

As long as they give us a true sequel to Brothers In Arms 3, I'll accept this. It's not like Sega have been a good guy throughout the years. They've fucked over many companies and gamers.

Two wrongs etc.

 

[chartube12]

Sad but probably high true. It a lines with the other infos leak from various sources. it makes the rumors of sega wanting to sue gearbox and them wanting the rights to the IPs they unknownly paid for tons more credible.

 

[GamerzHell9137]

I hope that this does not mean that Sega is gonna close or something like that.
[jk]If that happens i'll suicide[/jk].
Sega is the best game developer for me.

 

[Snailface]

I hope that this does not mean that Sega is gonna close or something like that.
[jk]If that happens i'll suicide[/jk].
Sega is the best game developer for me.

They wouldn't close, too many valuable IPs. Instead, they would likely be bought by Nintendo, which would be awesome.

 

[Rizsparky]

Hmm... I wonder what will be the repercussions..

 

[ShadowSoldier]

Serves Sega right for practically murdering Sonic the Hedgehog!

What? What? WHAT?! OH COME ON! It was a joke!

 

[Rizsparky]

They wouldn't close, too many valuable IPs. Instead, they would likely be bought by Nintendo, which would be awesome.

Weren't Microsoft planning to acquire Sega? Good job that didn't come to light... we would've had another RARE on our hands

 

[XDel]

Should I feel guilty for loving Opposing Force now?

 

[J-Machine]

I hope sega gets the ip's that they paid for via the embezzlement when they go to court. borderlands would be in much better hands and the yakuza series shows how plausible an enjoyable experience duke nukem could become.

 

[ShadowSoldier]

I hope sega gets the ip's that they paid for via the embezzlement when they go to court. borderlands would be in much better hands and the yakuza series shows how plausible an enjoyable experience duke nukem could become.

You make it sound as if Borderlands is in some kind of trouble lol.

 

[J-Machine]

You make it sound as if Borderlands is in some kind of trouble lol.

It is if the company who makes it cannot even do so without stealing money from another company.