It is no secret that gamers are a vocal bunch, and usually if they are not reaching for their soapboxes and megaphones, then they are reaching for their pitchforks and torches. Gearbox Software, LLC CEO Randy Pitchford has seen plenty of both, and he spoke during a recent keynote at the Develop conference in Brighton, England, where he said that no matter what sort of game you develop, someone will hate it.

“If you’re making entertainment on a grand scale, if you’re reaching millions, there will be tens of thousands of people who absolutely hate us, and some percentage of those will take it upon themselves to let us known how they feel,” Pitchford said. “I read it in this way: We moved those people, we touched them – even the person who hates [your game] so much, you’ve affected them.”

He added, “That’s why we fight; we’re creating emotion and experience – and some people thrive on that type of feeling. Some people are sadists.”

While Pitchford’s comments could refer to almost any game released to the public, he is specifically referencing Gearbox’s experience with Aliens: Colonial Marines, which received widespread negative criticism when it was released in February 2013. The game was so hated that it even spawned a class-action lawsuit that claimed that Gearbox and Sega Corp. falsely advertised the game at conventions, showing features that were never included in the final game.

Gearbox was later dropped from the suit, but the Dallas-based studio still receives its fair share of ire from fans who are still bitter about it.

“There is always the person who’s got to stand on the sandcastle; they must crush it,” Pitchford said. “That’s their way of relating to that. It’s typically a less sophisticated mind. There’s a dark part of us all that likes the idea of crushing a sandcastle, but most of us will respect it and let it be. That’s why we like playing video games where we can blow stuff up and no one gets hurt.”

Of course, Pitchford’s comments have not gone over well with some gamers who feel that he is shifting blame off of himself and his studio.

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