In what is becoming a growing drama within the industry, David Eddings, the voice of Claptrap in Borderlands, has spoken out extensively against Randy Pitchford.
If you haven’t been following the saga, David Eddings is not voicing Claptrap in Borderlands 3. On the surface, this seemed to be due to a financial dispute in which Eddings claimed he was not properly compensated for past work. That is when Randy Pitchford responded with this:
Mr. Eddings was paid very handsomely during his employment. After his employment he was made a relatively generous offer to reprise the role. Unfortunately, he turned that opportunity down.
— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) May 3, 2019
This, according to Eddings, is not true and has now caused him to speak out publicly. And shockingly, what he is alleging would represent rather serious crimes including theft and assault.
I was fine moving on after Gearbox. But when my former boss starts mouthing off about various aspects of my employment including “how highly compensated” I was and how “generous” he is, I feel obligated to correct the record.
— David Eddings (@davideddings) May 7, 2019
I ultimately offered to do it for “free” in exchange for past royalties owed plus an apology for something I’ve never spoken about publicly until now: Randy physically assaulted me in the lobby of the Marriott Marquis at GDC 2017.
— David Eddings (@davideddings) May 7, 2019
As an aside, seems a bit conspicuous that he chimed in on my salary but didn't mention anything about the $12M of revenue he siphoned away from the employee royalty pool. FYI – GBX employees are asked to take lower salaries with the promise of royalty shares.
— David Eddings (@davideddings) May 7, 2019
Our Take
This is becoming a rather serious matter rather quickly and frankly, while Randy Pitchford has a tendency to speak up on social media, we can’t imagine he will respond in that vein any longer. Lawyers will likely be getting involved at this point and we have to imagine that 2K will need to make a formal statement as well. We’ll keep you updated as more of this drama unfolds.
