While the ongoing drama regardingBorderlands 3’s replacement ofRhys voice actor Troy Bakerhas been on display publicly for some time, a second replacement has only just garnered attention. With the debut ofBorderlands 3’s first gameplay, franchise fans noticed that mascot Claptrap’s voice had also gone through a change. When approached on Twitter, Claptrap’s original voice actor confirmed that Gearbox moved forward with someone different. The reasons why may be more complicated than they seem.
Claptrap’s original voice actor, David Eddings, doesn’t have anything complimentary to say about his former employer. When asked whether he would be revisiting his role asClaptrap, Eddings replied with a firm, “No.” According to Eddings, “For the first time, I insisted on getting paid for my performance and all of a sudden they couldn’t afford me.”
Understanding the comment requires a bit of background. David Eddings was previously an executive at Gearbox, its VP of Business Development from 2005 through 2017. While employed in that position, he also provided the voice of Claptrap. Going by his comments, Eddings was not paid any additional amount on top of his executive pay for his voice work. Now that he’s no longer working for Gearbox, he’s insinuating that the company isn’t willing to pay him for work it previously had taken for granted.
As for Eddings' reference to $12 million, that’s a completely different controversy. According to details revealed in a lawsuit filed by ex-Gearbox lawyer Wade Callendar, 2K Games reportedlypaid CEO Randy Pitchford a $12 million direct executive bonus. The suit alleged that these funds were an advance on royalties that would otherwise go into Gearbox to fund development, a deal said to be made by Pitchford with 2K to keepBorderlandsdevelopment at the publisher.
In other words, Eddings seems to be insinuating that Gearbox could have afforded to payBorderlands' original voice actors if Pitchford’s alleged $12 million bonus had gone intoBorderlands 3’s development.
Regardless of the drama going on behind the scenes ofBorderlands 3’s development, the game’s reception has remained extremely positive since its announcement and more recent gameplay debut. Fans will find out whether or not it lives up to the hype whenBorderlands 3releases later this year.
Borderlands 3releases September 13 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
