Gearbox honours cancer victim in Borderlands 2

By Fred Dutton Published 4 November, 2011

Fan's likeness to be an NPC, Claptrap reads eulogy.

Borderlands 2 will honour the memory of a 22-year-old fan who recently succumbed to cancer.

Developer Gearbox reportedly picked up an email from a friend of Michael John Mamaril explaining that the pair had been big fans of its multiplayer shooter and asking if the studio would be willing to have the game's robot mascot Claptrap read out a short eulogy.

Gearbox duly obliged (you can hear the message in full over on Destructoid) and then went one step further, promising to insert Michael into Borderlands 2 as an NPC.

Gearbox has had its share of negative press this year, but it's great to see a developer that holds its fanbase in such high regard. Bravo, Pitchford and co.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (28) Latest comment 7 months ago

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  • Razz #1 7 months ago

    That's awesome :) Can't wait for BL2, loved the first one.

    RIP Michael
    Edited by Razz at 04/11/11 @ 17:01

  • roquey Verified Lead Quality Assurance Tester and Compliance Specialist, Universally Speaking #2 7 months ago

    Enjoyed the first one until people started using hex editors on weapons a shields to the point of soloing crawmerax. This annoyed me when trying to go though the game, someone joining and 1 hitting everything :/ But this games ranks either 1st or 2nd on my steam time played. love it!

  • DefendoCroc #3 7 months ago

    RIP Michael :(

  • neilka #4 7 months ago

    Alternate Wesley Yin-Poole version of this article:
    "CONFIRMED - Borderlands causes cancer"

  • Vortex808 #5 7 months ago

    Gearbox really are great for this kind of stuff. Kudos to them.

  • arcam #6 7 months ago

    Nice one. A positive story to finish the week, I like it.

  • Greyham721 #7 7 months ago

    This is Incredibly thoughtful of Gearbox. Awesome Studio :)

  • ChuckNorris #8 7 months ago

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdWkKKSckNk
    Edited by ChuckNorris at 04/11/11 @ 17:14

  • kangarootoo #9 7 months ago

    That eulogy was really touching. Kudos.

  • RegorTtenneb #10 7 months ago

    I didnt like Borderlands because it made me have to think too hard. I dont like games where I have to thing a lot.....

  • TheDarkFurie #11 7 months ago

    "CONFIRMED - Borderlands causes cancer"

    Doesn't everything?

  • steve1979 #12 7 months ago

    That was excellent and very touching. Bravo, Gearbox.

    RIP Michael

  • coomber #13 7 months ago

    RIP, fella.

    Nice to see such a kind gesture from his friend and the developers.

    Edit: To those commenting on this article merely to discuss the flaws in Borderlands....I think perhaps you should read the article again. This time try not to miss the point.
    Edited by coomber at 04/11/11 @ 18:44

  • DozyKipper #14 7 months ago

    "Gearbox has had its share of negative press..."

    Has it? I don't recall reading anything bad about them.

  • jamieleng #15 7 months ago

    That's a nice gesture. Shame he had to die to get his 15 mins though.

  • aphex187 #16 7 months ago

    Lovely!

  • danidrums #17 7 months ago

    "I didn't like Borderlands because it made me have to waste my entire ammo on a single guy's head. I don't like games where I have to shoot a lot....." there I fixed for ya! :)

  • PenguinJim #18 7 months ago

    @DozyKipper
    I'm not sure if you're serious. On the off-chance that you're not being sarcastic, and starting AFTER Gearbox released one of the lowest-scoring games of the year, how about the Randy Pitchford whining about reviews, the Twitter message that proclaimed that people who had given Duke bad scores would be "punished", and even the article from two days ago about waaah waaah reviewers of Duke weren't fair: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-11-03-gearbox-duke-nukem-forever-wasnt-reviewed-fairly

  • Yeoung #19 7 months ago

    You can't buy publicity like that, this was not an entirely altruistic endeavor, trust me.

  • onlynapkin #20 7 months ago

    @PenguinJim Releasing a bad game does not give the developers negative press, especially considering that it was code written by someone else that they repurposed and finished. Sure, it doesn't excuse the bad reviews the game got, and Gearbox is indeed responsible for the successes and failings of the game, but equating that with negative press is too much. You're giving them the same status as UbiDRM, Origin and Kotick, which is not even remotely justified.

    If you're going to say people who make games are upset when their games are reviewed badly, well it's called being human. A Gearbox employee was asked to review the reviews and said he felt it wasn't fair. It's called having an opinion. Eurogamer fishing for stuff like that and making a sensationalist title out of it is not Gearbox's fault.

    That Twitter message was sent by the people in charge of marketing for Duke Nukem Forever. 2K Games' response was to fire them. Instantly.

    I don't know why the hell people like Randy Pitchford and Andy Burch would ever give anyone bad vibes. Your personal attacks and anger are better directed elsewhere.

    (Damn Eurogamer posts some sensationalist crap. Ah well, better realized earlier than later.)
    Edited by onlynapkin at 05/11/11 @ 04:35

  • PenguinJim #21 7 months ago

    @onlynapkin
    My "personal attacks", whut? I'm "...giving them the same status as UbiDRM, Origin and Kotick", whu-whut? I simply mentioned some of the negative press surrounding Gearbox since Duke's launch, as DozyKipper was claiming there was none.

    I don't understand how mentioning three events that could hardly be interpreted as positive press for Gearbox (and off the top of my head, in a single sentence, without dwelling or detailing) is a personal attack.

    However, releasing a bad game = game gets bad press = company that makes it gets bad press. But "equating that with negative press is too much", you say - but you don't say why?

    Now that you've brought it up, though: Randy Pitchford is a tremendous douche. Have you ever seen him live or in a video? It's embarrassing. His foaming at the mouth about how Duke was the best game ever, shortly before release, was cringe-worthy even before we found out what a turd it was. Have you seen his presentation for the Aliens: Colonial Marines "gameplay" video? Awful stuff. (And the game looked like shit from that video, but fingers crossed it'll actually play great)

    There's his ridiculously stupid attacks on games news websites that reported Borderlands 2 news (shock, horror) before the official announcement: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/08/developer-calls-accurate-borderlands-2-report-shoddy-journalism.ars

    There's his hilarious bullshit before Duke's launch about how Duke's review scores "won't matter" (and how he expected a couple of 10/10 scores): http://www.computerandvideogames.com/290520/duke-nukem-forever-review-scores-wont-make-or-break-title-pitchford/ (well, we all know how he feels about review scores now...)

    There was the interview he gave where he was adamant that he'd never want any DRM that could possibly punish the customer, and would rather have pirates being able to play instead ( http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/randy_pitchford_talks_borderlands_piracy_and_why_he_doesn%E2%80%99t_trust_valve ), which was unsurprisingly followed by the announcement of SecuROM for Borderlands ( http://bitmob.com/articles/borderlands-likely-to-ship-with-securom ) and then, inevitably, paying customers being unable to play their new copy of Borderlands ( http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/23/borderlands-pc-drm-loyally-guards-street-date-pitchford-unable/ ). Way to go.

    Randy Pitchford is the face of Gearbox for many, and it's an ugly face. I suppose we could include whiny Brian Martel in that, too, but Randy's so full of lies and hilarious mis-speaks that he should consider a job as a Sony exec.

    And you needn't bother with your response where you find dozens of excuses on behalf of Gearbox or defending Randy, finding other culprits and scapegoats because Gearbox can do no wrong. DozyKipper's comment asked about negative press for Gearbox, and whether or not they are ultimately responsible for all of this shit, they have certainly received bad press for it!

    (That's strange, none of my links were from that "sensationalist" Eurogamer site. Let me guess, onlynapkin: all of my linked sites are sensationalist trash, too?) ;)
    Edited by PenguinJim at 05/11/11 @ 05:38

  • Arsecake_Baker #22 7 months ago

    "That's strange, none of my links were from that "sensationalist" Eurogamer site. Let me guess, onlynapkin: all of my linked sites are sensationalist trash, too?)"

    Quite frankly yes, you seem to be going out of your way to tar an entire company over the misguided ramblings of one individual, sure Pitchford has made some crass comments in the past, but believe me i can fish around and find quotes equally as stupid from hundreds of others in the business!

    This eulogy puts a human face on a faceless business, a business more than often dragged through the mire for not meeting superhuman expectations.

    I for one applaud Gearbox.

  • onlynapkin #23 7 months ago

    @PenguinJim

    "My "personal attacks", whut?"

    Whining and waah waah are not condescending ways to refer to unfavourable reactions to reviews? What would you call that then, objective commentary?

    "However, releasing a bad game = game gets bad press = company that makes it gets bad press. But "equating that with negative press is too much", you say - but you don't say why?"

    I don't see the release of DNF to critical declaim detracting from Gearbox's reputation or capability to make great games. You seem to assume the two are interconnected. I don't. That would be giving the developer bad press. From what I've seen, the internet is angry about DNF but not necessarily about Gearbox. Perhaps some people keep in mind the fact that this is "3DRealm's vision" for the project, as Randy once put it (which you must know, considering how well informed you are about him), and Gearbox merely applied the finishing touches.

    "Now that you've brought it up, though: Randy Pitchford is a tremendous douche. Have you ever seen him live or in a video?"

    Why yes, I have, multiple times. I have always found his demeanour pleasant and his attitude extremely positive. Maybe that's representative of douchy for you. Again, I don't see enthusiasm for something as a bad thing. Forget the fact that it's his job to promote his games, he's often genuinely thrilled to show them off.

    http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/08/developer-calls-accurate-borderlands-2-report-shoddy-journalism.ars - He was upset that his marketing plan didn't go according to plan. And you say people are not supposed to be that way. Okay.

    http://www.computerandvideogames.com/290520/duke-nukem-forever-review-scores-wont-make-or-break-title-pitchford/ - He thought the game was fun and that the relationship that a great many people have had with Duke through their childhood would get them to buy the game anyway, regardless of review scores. He obviously didn't anticipate a severe backlash. You could always argue that he has poor taste in games, but then again why am I giving you ideas...

    "I’d much rather have a false positive, and allow thieves to play, than prevent a paying customer from playing my game. The industry has destroyed a lot of good will with DRM problems." - Fair enough. He made a statement publicly denouncing DRM and then went right ahead and put it in Borderlands. That was very silly of him.

    "And you needn't bother with your response where you find dozens of excuses on behalf of Gearbox or defending Randy,"

    Oh yeah, sure. Ignore my (potential) response, thereby validating yours. Thumb me down too, I'm sure that makes you even more right.

    "DozyKipper's comment asked about negative press for Gearbox, and whether or not they are ultimately responsible for all of this shit, they have certainly received bad press for it!"

    I'm sorry, but what? You dug up articles from more than two years ago to prove your point?? Congratulations. Gearbox have received bad press. You may sleep soundly tonight.

    "Let me guess, onlynapkin: all of my linked sites are sensationalist trash, too?) ;)"

    No, a smiley does not add to the argument.
    Edited by onlynapkin at 05/11/11 @ 16:04

  • jimr9999us #24 7 months ago

    /salute Gearbox, r.i.p. Michael.

  • Lunatic4ever #25 7 months ago

    That's just sad :S

  • Murton #26 7 months ago

    Who'd have thought it, a games developer in an unprecedented show of love and respect for a fan as an individual human being and not a mass of "consumers"

    This is why Gearbox are so beloved in this industry, not just because they have made some of the best games we have ever played (Half Life Opposing Force has few peers in terms of full FPS games, let alone expansion packs) but they do stuff like this as well.

    RIP Michael, I'll be sure to kill a Skag for you on launch day.

  • Preztail #27 7 months ago

    Lovely Tribute Pandora has lost one of its own

    RIP Michael

  • PenguinJim #28 7 months ago

    @Arsecake_Baker
    "Quite frankly yes, you seem to be going out of your way to tar an entire company over the misguided ramblings of one individual..."
    So Randy Pitchfork, CEO and co-founder of Gearbox, doesn't actually represent Gearbox? Well, who else can I look at for representation... their PR company would be a good start, I guess. Oh, wait, I referenced them as well. Maybe another co-founder? Brian Martel, perhaps? Hey, I did that already, too!

    And I wasn't just referring to "ramblings", but also to their actions, which you can clearly see if you check the links or just, y'know, read my post.