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[Fredrik]

I don't know much about the situation, but from watching that video it's very difficult to excuse. Whether anyone knew about it or not is pretty much irrelevant.

I'm just saying that Pitchford might not be to blame for that particular theft, his response on Twitter makes it sound like he had no clue about the theft until the comparisons were shown, the artist probably got fired.

 

[Lalalandia]

I'm just saying that Pitchford might not be to blame for that particular theft, his response on Twitter makes it sound like he had no clue about the theft until the comparisons were shown, the artist probably got fired.

No one artist can change the entire visual style of a game and the chap who got ripped off was in contact with multiple folks at Gearbox. What is most revealing however is that he has never been acknowledged with so much as a 'special thanks' let alone a job or commission. No they knew what they were doing and they knew this chap (or any other artist) had little chance of recourse. The only reason they acknowledged ripping off the Star Wars poster was that he (and Fox) had the wherewithal to make life hard for them.

Edit:
http://www.gatheryourparty.com/2012/11/12/pound-of-flesh/

MC: You produced and directed it for the MTV Asia Music awards and it premiered in 2006. Borderlands development team under the direction of Brian Martel changed their art style in early 2009. By virtue of time alone your film was first but despite that, the Kotaku article that had Pitchford’s response brushed it all aside as a matter of inspiration but never really owned the fact that Gearbox didn’t create the style.

Did anyone from Gearbox or 2K Games contact you before the release of Borderlands?

BH: I was contacted by Gearbox prior to the re-design of the game – in 2008. They asked me if I would be interested to direct/design some cut-scenes for them. We exchanged a few emails but the project didn’t materialize in the end. I didn’t think much of it at the time – until I saw the final game in 2009.

MC: How did you feel when you saw what clearly looks like your ideas and design style being used in the game after they said the project that you [would have] been working on would be scrapped?

BH: To be absolutely clear – I have never created or designed anything for Gearbox or Borderlands. Gearbox saw my work and decided to reproduce it – make it their own – without my help or my consent. The hardest part for me when this happened was understanding why they wouldn’t ask me directly. We were already talking about doing some work together – it made no sense.

From Randy Pitchford after Kotaku contacted him

"I would like to thank news sites who chose to share the awesome work in Code Hunters with their readers. It's great content and one can no doubt imagine that a number of artists and designers at Gearbox were inspired and influenced by it. It was inspiring to me when "The Incredibles" was clearly a big source of influence for titles like Battlefield Heroes and Team Fortress 2 (and other amazing games and media). Perhaps with more attention from gaming news sites and other sources, Code Hunters can be more respected and honored for their innovation and leadership in CG as well. Maybe I'm too optimistic to believe that Code Hunters can get as much attention as Pixar (with due respect I believe they deserve), but with the help of gaming news sites and others who care about great content, maybe more people can notice and recognize and, perhaps, be inspired by it."

Yeah fuck Randy Pitchford, because Pixar are just like an individual producing a short for MTV Asia that you spoke to about working on your project before thinking to yourself 'fuck him I gots my money already'.