Randy Pitchford, president of Gearbox, has once again found himself having to defend his studio regarding Aliens: Colonial Marines.
The virtual argument erupted after Pitchford tweeted an article regarding the monetisiation tricks used by some developers for free-to-play titles. He drew criticism after he commented: "Our industry should exist to entertain and inspire, not to exploit".
This statement led some of his followers calling hypocrisy, citing Aliens: Colonial Marines as an example of perceived exploitation. Pitchford responded: "Did you play the game? The intent was to entertain. If that did not succeed with you, that was a failure but not a trick."
One follower suggested that exploitation was showing a demo that didn't accurately reflect the content of the game (an issue that forced Sega to add a disclaimer to demo footage following a complaint to the Advertising Standards Agency over the representation of Colonial Marines), to which Pitchford replied: "A false demo created after product was finished would be dishonest. To share intent with work-in-progress should be encouraged!"
He later summed up his position with the following statement: "The best entertainers exist to create joy and happiness. That they might not always succeed is no impeachment of their intent."