Aliens: Colonial Marines publisher Sega has put the blame solely on Gearbox Software, especially CEO Randy Pitchford, as even more drama from the Aliens: Colonial Marines lawsuit emerges.
Gearbox created the Aliens: Colonial Marines demos that sparked such controversy and “leaked” misleading information, Sega has alleged.
According to Polygon‘s ongoing courage of documents related to the suit, Sega’s latest filing rebuts Gearbox’s earlier claim that it had nothing to do with the marketing of Aliens: Colonial Marines.
The filing includes multiple internal emails and paints a sorry picture of a bold marketing plan gone wrong. Initially, Sega seems excited by the possibility of working closely with Gearbox on marketing, describing Pitchford as a “respected development celebrity” and “guaranteed to be headline material in worldwide press coverage”.
In an internal email from Sega’s Matt Powers, the senior producer says Gearbox “verified” the E3 2011 demo “is indeed the bar that we should use to determine where the entire game will be”. It’s interesting that he goes on to say that he “just wanted to double-check with them”
In another internal email, Sega PR manager Matt Eyre said he confronted Gearbox about its leaks, which included website posts, panel discussions and more, and was told they were a result of Pitchford “doing whatever the fuck he likes”.
“Apparently he did it twice on [Borderlands 2] also, against, against all plans and despite the fact they asked him not to. I think our best result here is that we have no more panel sessions,” Eyre said.
Sega also rebutted Gearbox’s claim of not earning any royalties on Aliens: Colonial Marines, saying it paid millions in “advance” royalties, and has requested the court ignore Gearbox’s request to be removed from the suit.
