The lawsuit between Borderlands developer Gearbox Software’s CEO Randy Pitchford and former company lawyer Wade Callender has come to an end. Both sides have “resolved all claims between them.”
A joint statement filed in 162nd Judicial District of Dallas, Texas confirms that Randy Pitchford has been “exonerated” from the claims against him. The two sides reportedly apologized, while “all misunderstandings between the parties have been corrected.”
The document asks the Court to dismiss the case “with prejudice,” which means it cannot be revisited at a later date.
“Upon review of all the evidence in the case, it was of the opinion of counsel that the evidence exonerated Randy Pitchford from the allegations against him; all misunderstandings between the parties have been corrected, and apologies were exchanged,” reads a line from the statement. “Because the parties are mutually bound by confidentiality, no additional statements will be forthcoming.”
This seemingly brings about an end to a bitter, drawn out legal battle between Pitchford and Callender. Gearbox sued Callender for fraud, and Callender fired back with his own lawsuit containing numerous and significant claims. Callender alleged that Pitchford awarded himself a secret bonus of $18 million that Callender claims should have gone into a pool spread between developers. Callender also claimed that Pitchford accidentally left a USB drive at a Medieval Times restaurant that he says contained secret company documents and videos of “underage” pornography and that Pitchford held parties at his home where “adult men reportedly exposed themselves to minors.” Gearbox has consistently denied this and other claims.
While this lawsuit may have come to an end, Pitchford has been a focal point of other controversies as well. Another former employee, David Eddings, explained why he won’t be resuming his role as Claptrap for Borderlands 3. That led to a testy exchange with Pitchford until Eddings ultimately alleged that Pitchford had physically assaulted him at GDC 2017, and subsequently stalked him on social media.
Gearbox’s latest release, Borderlands 3, launched in September and sold 5 million copies in 5 days to set a new franchise sales record.
