Between the Borderlands 3 trailer and the recent Borderlands 3 preview , many Borderlands fans noticed that Claptrap, the series' endearingly annoying robot mascot, sounds slightly different this time around. And no, you're not imagining it - Claptrap does have a different voice actor in Borderlands 3 . Claptrap is now voiced by Jim Foronda, who also voiced a few characters in all of the previous Borderlands games, as well as Gearbox's Battleborn . The little robot was previously voiced by David Eddings, who was with Gearbox from 2005 through 2017 before he moved to publisher Rooster Teeth Productions. Eddings said on Twitter that he wasn't against reprising his role as Claptrap for Borderlands 3, but to put it mildly, he and Gearbox couldn't agree on a rate. "For the first time, I insisted on getting paid for my performance and all of a sudden they couldn't afford me," he said . It sounds like Eddings just sort of fell into the role while at Gearbox. I'm assuming his previous position as vice president of business development didn't include "voicing a robot" in its responsibilities. In another tweet , he said he'd done "hundreds of hours of [voiceover] work and not a single additional penny was earned for doing it." "Some people will be disappointed, some won't know the difference, some will like it better, and some won't care," Eddings said of the change in actors. "All in all, it doesn't really matter. The real shame is knowing the developers won't be getting their fair share of royalties." Nevertheless, Eddings says he'll "continue to do [voiceover] work for fun on games me and my friends make." For example, he's the voice of Joey Drew in Bendy and the Ink Machine, which Rooster Teeth helped publish. Eddings' Claptrap is baked into the Borderlands series, but truth be told, Claptrap's robot voice is so heavily modulated that it's hard to tell the difference now that Foronda is up to bat. The one-wheeled bot's writing hasn't changed, that's for sure.<doc-sep>Claptrap voice actor David Eddings is reportedly not reprising his role in Borderlands 3 because development studio Gearbox "all of a sudden [...] couldn't afford [him]". While Eddings has voiced Claptrap in all prior Borderlands games, he did so whilst also employed as a full-time employee of Gearbox, so he played Claptrap without drawing down additional payment for his voice work. But as Eddings left his position as vice president of licensing and business development to move to Rooster Teeth in March 2017, he reports he asked to be paid "for the first time" for Borderlands 3 but was seemingly unable to reach a payment arrangement with the studio. When asked on Twitter if he would be returning as Claptrap, Eddings said: "No. For the first time, I insisted on getting paid for my performance and all of a sudden they couldn't afford me. "Now I'm not telling them how to run their business but maybe next time they should put the $12M payment from 2K in the Gearbox bank account instead. Just sayin'..." No. For the first time, I insisted on getting paid for my performance and all of a sudden they couldn't afford me. Now I'm not telling them how to run their business but maybe next time they should put the M payment from 2K in the Gearbox bank account instead. Just sayin'... — David Eddings (@davideddings) May 2, 2019 This content is hosted on an external platform, which will only display it if you accept targeting cookies. Please enable cookies to view. Manage cookie settings "Gearbox works to treat and compensate all voice actors at industry standards. We offer the opportunity for salaried employees to voice characters in the game, but is not a mandatory responsibility to their job requirements," a Gearbox spokesperson told IGN. "In this particular case, now that he was no longer an employee, we offered him an industry standard rate, but were not able to reach an agreement. We are confident and happy with Jim Foronda as the voice of Claptrap, and we are confident our fans will be too." Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford expanded on the subject via his own Twitter account, saying "Mr. Eddings" was offered a "relatively generous offer to reprise the role". When a commenter on Twitter responded to Pitchford and said "pay your claptrap voice actor next time", the CEO replied: "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." Borderlands alumni Troy Baker and Nolan North will also not be returning to reprise their respective roles, either. Initially, Pitchford said he was "told by the audio director" that Baker had turned the role down, but the voice actor refuted this, saying he would "love to come back" but "[Gearbox Software] said I'm not coming back". "Their timeline tells an interesting story," Baker said, referring to the comments made by the Gearbox CEO (thanks, PC Gamer). "I think it's interesting that Randy Pitchford tweeted out that I turned it down, and then he said he heard that I turned it down. So maybe... I would fact check before I tweeted out to the internet." Borderlands 3 is coming to PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on 13th September 2019.<doc-sep>A few days ago, developer Gearbox Software livestreamed 45 minutes of Borderlands 3 footage. While we got a taste of the gameplay and story, some gamers expressed concern that the lovable — and incredibly irritating — robot Claptrap didn't quite sound the same. It turns out that the same voice actor isn't reprising his role due to payment issues. 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. On Twitter, David Eddings confirmed that he wasn't a part of Borderlands 3. He added, "For the first time, I insisted on getting paid for my performance and all of a sudden they couldn't afford me... maybe next time they should put the $12 million payment from 2K in the Gearbox bank account instead." It's unclear what Eddings means by the $12 million payment from 2K, but it could be a reference to paying voice actors. No. For the first time, I insisted on getting paid for my performance and all of a sudden they couldn't afford me. Now I'm not telling them how to run their business but maybe next time they should put the $12M payment from 2K in the Gearbox bank account instead. Just sayin'... — David Eddings (@davideddings) May 2, 2019 Claptrap plays a major part in all of the Borderlands games, and there are a lot of lines. If he wasn't paid for his performance for the first couple of titles, that's definitely an unfair practice. However, keep in mind that Gearbox hasn't responded to this as of yet so we don't know the whole story. Keep an open mind until we know more about the situation. On a more positive note, the team revealed that Borderlands 3 wouldn't feature pay-to-win microtransactions — but there would be cosmetic add-ons — and run at 4K resolution on Xbox One X. Luckily, if you prefer playing at 60 frames per second, there's going to be a "favor performance" option which decreases the resolution.<doc-sep>
Whether or not you find Claptrap to be one of the most grating characters in Borderlands, it was hard to miss how slightly different he sounds in Borderlands 3. The reason why Claptrap sounds different in Borderlands 3 is simple, and it’s because original voice actor David Eddings won’t be reprising his role in the sequel. When Eddings played Claptrap in earlier Borderlands games, he worked at developer Gearbox as the studio’s vice president of licensing and business development. This detail is crucial because, according to Eddings, he wasn’t paid for his earlier performances. When he did finally request a fee for returning to voice Claptrap in Borderlands 3 (he’s no longer with the company), he wasn’t offered one and thus the role went to somebody else. Eddings revealed these details on Twitter, adding that Gearbox told him “they couldn’t afford” to hire him to work on the sequel. No. For the first time, I insisted on getting paid for my performance and all of a sudden they couldn't afford me. Now I'm not telling them how to run their business but maybe next time they should put the $12M payment from 2K in the Gearbox bank account instead. Just sayin'… — David Eddings (@davideddings) May 2, 2019 Interestingly, Gearbox’s account of the story is different. In a statement to IGN, the developer said it offered Eddings “an industry standard rate” but wasn’t able to reach an agreement. “Gearbox works to treat and compensate all voice actors at industry standards. We offer the opportunity for salaried employees to voice characters in the game, but is not a mandatory responsibility to their job requirements,” the statement reads. “In this particular case, now that he was no longer an employee, we offered him an industry standard rate, but were not able to reach an agreement. We are confident and happy with Jim Foronda as the voice of Claptrap, and we are confident our fans will be too.” Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford also chimed in on Twitter to say that Eddings was made “a relatively generous offer to reprise the role.” Adding in a followup tweet that it was “twice the union rate”. 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 Watch on YouTube Borderlands 3 is out September 13 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.