Gearbox might have hidden a secret message in the new Borderlands 2 DLC they just released that’s taking a shot at the former voice actor of Claptrap.
In case you haven’t heard, Borderlands 3 will have a new voice actor for Claptrap. Former Claptrap voice David Eddings ultimately turned down the role after offering to do it for free so long as Gearbox paid him past royalties and he received a public apology from Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford for assaulting him in the lobby of the Marriott Marquis at GDC 2017.
Pitchford, naturally, denies any royalties are owed as Eddings was an employee of Gearbox at the time and provided the voice of Claptrap as part of his corporate duties. We so far have no response from Pitchford on the assault allegations.
Needless to say, the relationship between Gearbox and Eddings made it impossible for the two to work together for the sake of Borderlands 3. It might also have meant that Gearbox is willing to take sly shots at Eddings in a Borderlands 2 side quest recently added with the free Commander Lilith and the Fight For Sanctuary DLC.
The free DLC released on January 9th is the first time we hear the voice of the new Claptrap, played by Jim Foronda, in a side quest called “Claptocurrency.” In the side quest, Claptrap asks the vault hunter to take part in a convoluted cryptocurrency scheme where Claptrap jokingly assures the player that he won't betray them at the first opportunity.
He does, and when the price of the cryptocurrency crashes he calls up Lilith to “beg for his old job” back. Even though he never really had a job to begin with.
You can take a look at the mission in the video below. The begging happens at around 4:40.
Had this mission not been the first time we hear the new voice of Claptrap, then it probably would have gone completely unnoticed. However, the mission is somewhat out of character for Claptrap as he’s usually portrayed as a helpful if cumbersome ally. And since Eddings used to play Claptrap, the robot literally begging for his job back does seem to send a veiled message on how events went down.
The sidequest was recently noted by a fan mailing the Giant Bombcast and has even received a response from Eddings himself. "Yet another sad attempt by Randy to paint me in a false light,” Eddings wrote on Twitter. “For proof, here's my 1st response when asked to reprise the role. For clarity, "royalties owed" were earned prior to 3/7/17."
So far Gearbox and Pitchford have refused to comment, but if this is a side quest specifically to poke fun at the former Claptrap voice actor, we can't imagine what might be in store for Borderlands 3.