Current Events > Remember when Gearbox threw a pizza party for its workers, only to fire them?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I was interested in the article but the ads are so bad on that page that it won't even scroll, it just freezes every few seconds.

lolkotaku

The testers at [MAJOR PUBLISHER] had just finished wrapping up testing on a project we'll call "Biolands." And to congratulate them, the man in charge arranged a huge bowling/pizza party for the end of the week. Of course everyone is hyped for the event. So the day finally arrives and all the testers show up. They all start bowling and eating pizza. After a few hours of everyone enjoying themselves, the VP asks for everyone's attention. When he does manage to get the team to listen, he begins to thank them for their hard work and has the leads hand them their termination papers.
After that event, the crew could no longer throw events without scaring everyone to death.

Not sure how the industry works, but aren't game testers hired for testing a game?
Or is it a permanent job (well, not so permanent), moving from one game testing to the next?

Presumably it is better than being fired and not getting a pizza party.

Presumably it is better than being fired and not getting a pizza party.

Except if you start associating pizza and parties with getting fired. It would suck to have those things ruined.

After that event, the crew could no longer throw events without scaring everyone to death.

Not sure how the industry works, but aren't game testers hired for testing a game?
Or is it a permanent job (well, not so permanent), moving from one game testing to the next?

Almost as soon as he came to power, he gave a party for his boyars and their families to celebrate Easter. These nobles were part of the conspiracy around his father's death. Vlad, to avenge his father's death, had all the assembled nobles arrested. The older boyars were impaled on the spot. The younger nobles and their families were marched north from Trgovite to the ruins of the Poienari Castle in the mountains above the Arge River. The boyars and their families were forced to work for months rebuilding the old castle. According to the reports, they worked until the clothes fell off their bodies, and then were forced to continue working naked. Very few survived the building of Vlad's castle.

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlad_the_Impaler#Cruelty

I see you're a glass half-full kind of guy lol

Except if you start associating pizza and parties with getting fired. It would suck to have those things ruined.

This is like the modern day version of Vlad the Impaler's feast for the boyars.

Maybe I have some absolutely terrible reading comprehension, but I find very little similarities between the two accounts other than a party was involved.

After that event, the crew could no longer throw events without scaring everyone to death.

Not sure how the industry works, but aren't game testers hired for testing a game?
Or is it a permanent job (well, not so permanent), moving from one game testing to the next?

Literally after that, every employee was scared to attend parties at work lol

You are correct. This amounts to a nothing burger really. Some companies have done away with testers altogether

Well, and a betrayal, which is kind of the crucial point there. Y'know, come to this party for merrymaking and then have the most awful thing that you never imagined happen to you. Back then, it's getting impaled or worked to death, in the modern corporate setting, it's having your livelihood ripped away from you without any warning.

I gave up on gearbox when it took them almost forever to release the editing kit for Halo PC

I can see this guy do that.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/3/9/AAA_aCAAEuIj.jpg
...on the other hand, he would probably fire them instead of ordering pizza, to save money.

Aliens Colonial Marines. Never forgave them.

I remember when battleborn was stillborn and perhaps deservedly lost to OverWatch

I don't remember that but lol

Not sure how the industry works, but aren't game testers hired for testing a game?
Or is it a permanent job (well, not so permanent), moving from one game testing to the next?

The most messed up thing.... is that with Blizzards announcement of Overwatch 2 having a story mode (only to be then cancelled), is that they could have hired on some of the disgruntled Gearbox workers who worked on Borderlands 1 and 2, and brought them in to make the story mode for Overwatch 2. Failing to do so is mindboggling.

He'd tell everyone there is a party at a place that is free and when they showed up it would just be a banner that says "You're all fired."

Oh Randy one of the scummiest scums in the industry, a first class conman...

And then once they're done creating and releasing the story mode for Overwatch 2, give them a taco party and can them all again. They'll just be a group of perpetually fired people wandering like nomads from company to company, in an endless loop of creating, eating, looking for employment.