Lawsuit Claims Gearbox CEO Got Secret Bonuses, Possessed Child Porn

What started as a legal battle between Gearbox Software CEO Randy Pitchford and his company's former legal counsel, Wade Callender, has boiled over into the public sphere because of a number of shocking details in a recent lawsuit.

Gearbox, the game development studio in Frisco behind such titles as Borderlands and Aliens: Colonial Marines, initially sued Callender late last year for fraud and "breach of fiduciary duty." One month later, Callender's responding suit has alleged, among other things, that Pitchford siphoned $12 million in royalties to a private business and conducted a number of careless, damaging and potentially illegal activities.

The initial court case, first discovered by gamer site Kotaku's Jason Schreier, was filed in Collin County on Nov. 11 and alleges Callender consistently failed to repay money borrowed from Gearbox to help pay for law school tuition, a home loan and other personal expense. Additionally, they claim he "abused the privilege of credit card access by charging unapproved, wholly personal expenses, including family vacations, gun club memberships and firearms accessories, and trying to get six-pack abs."

All said, it seemed a fairly tame professional spat between two employees who reportedly were once good friends. That changed when Schreier found a second lawsuit filed in Dallas County on Dec. 21 by Callender. It was a response to the first and outlined a series of actions the plaintiff believed showed Pitchford "did not take the responsibilities of his position seriously."

Read more: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/gearbox-ceo-faces-accusation-of-secret-bonuses-possessing-child-pornography-in-new-suit-11466213