Randy Pitchford, the chief executive of Gearbox Software, has used a keynote speech at the Develop conference in Brighton to address the issue of vocal, highly critical gamers – with specific references to the controversy over the studio’s 2013 release Aliens: Colonial Marines.

After performing a magic trick based on the Three Card Monte street scam, the industry veteran told attendees that, while many spectators would quietly appreciate any entertainment act, a small percentage would be critical and would seek to validate that by attempting to convert others.

“If you’re making entertainment on a grand scale, if you’re reaching millions, there will be tens of thousands of people who absolutely hate us, and some percentage of those will take it upon themselves to let us known how they feel,” he said.

“I read it in this way: we moved those people, we touched them – even the person who hates [your game] so much, you’ve affected them. That’s why we fight, we’re creating emotion and experience - and some people thrive on that type of feeling, some people are sadists.”

During his keynote, Pitchford claimed that criticism is a natural element of mainstream entertainment production. He went on to use an analogy of building sandcastles on a beach. While some people will walk past and either admire or criticise the construction, others will want to attack it – a veiled reference to vocal critics on games forums.

There is always the person who’s got to stand on the sandcastle, they must crush it Randy Pitchford

“There is always the person who’s got to stand on the sandcastle, they must crush it,” he said. “That’s their way of relating to that. It’s typically a less sophisticated mind. There’s a dark part of us all that likes the idea of crushing a sandcastle, but most of us will respect it and let it be. That’s why we like playing video games where we can blow stuff up and no one gets hurt.”

Texas-based developer Gearbox Software, best known for the acclaimed Borderlands series, was at the centre of a controversy over the release of its game Alien Colonial Marines. The title was heavily criticised by many gamers and reviewers who felt the final title fell well-short of impressive demos shown throughout the previous year.

There were also questions of how much of the project was outsourced to other studios. A group of purchasers launched a class action lawsuit against Gearbox and publisher Sega in April 2013, claiming that the two falsely advertised the game’s content at video game conferences such as E3 and Pax. Gearbox was later removed from the action.



Pitchford made early reference to the controversy in his talk opening. “You may know us from such quality games as James Bond Nightfire and Aliens Colonial Marines,” he said.

He later went on to say that he “hoped” there would be another Duke Nukem title, the shooter series that Gearbox took on from previous developer 3D Realms. “I didn’t buy the franchise to ensure we could all play Duke Nukem Forever,” he joked, referencing the critically mauled title. 3D Realms later launched a lawsuit against Gearbox claiming unpaid royalties on the resulting release. The lawsuit was dropped months later.

He claimed the hardest decision he has ever had to make at Gearbox was to fire 26 employees during the early development of Borderlands in order to streamline the studio.

Answering questions from Twitter, he replied to one that asked his opinion on the acclaimed Creative Assembly title, Alien Isolation. “I think [it] is brilliant,” he said.

Addressing the difficulty of facing harsh critics, once again he stated: “A mission to entertain the world is a good one because it’s impossible to achieve. If you’re going to take a risk, some people will like what you offer, and some definitely won’t.”