For noget tid siden udgav Kotaku-journalisten Jason Schreier en detaljeret rapport, der påstod at Gearbox-ledelsen havde valgt at lukke ned for en række planlagte bonusser til deres medarbejdere, fordi Borderlands 3 endte med at være dyrere at udvikle end tidligere antaget. Gearbox-ansatte er angiveligt betalt en ringere løn end andetsteds i branchen, men disse bonusordninger skulle gerne være med til at gøre op for dette.
Spørger man dog Gearbox Québec-instruktøren Maxime Babin, så er det ikke helt sådan det er gået til. I et blogindlæg på LinkedIn han nemlig, at rapporten ikke helt er sand.
"We have not got stiffed by anyone. There was an expectation gap, but Borderlands 3 is profitable, and we already are seeing the result of it. Royalties are flowing already and more are coming. I have huge amount of respect for Randy that he had to face the disappointment of his friends and colleagues when he announced that the projections were too high. He could have pushed it off to someone else in the studio, but he didn't. It was a display of trust and honesty; it sucks that someone would try to spin it into something it isn't. It is particularly painful to have to discuss this at a time when millions of people outside the video game industry are struggling financially."
Det lader dog til at Babin bekræfter at Pitchford har lukket ned for en række af de planlagte bonusser.