Though last week’s reveal of Borderlands 3 turned out to be huge for Gearbox Software, it’s still had some rough days following. Company CEO Randy Pitchford has been the subject of ire since he didn’t clear up the microtransaction issue. But lately, it’s gone deeper, with former Claptrap voice actor David Eddings indicating that Pitchford assaulted him back in 2017. Today, the company spoke out about Eddings’ allegations, indicating that it would look further into the matter.
The full statement reads:
“Gearbox takes any and all claims of this nature very seriously and we will abstain from commenting on the allegations Dave is making because it is a personnel matter. We appreciate David’s contributions to the Borderlands franchise and have continued to assert we would welcome him back into the mix as the voice of Claptrap and other future opportunities.”
In a series of tweets, Eddings discussed why he wouldn’t return for the role. And that’s when the note against Pitchford came up.
“I’ve never spoken about publicly until now,” he explained. “Randy physically assaulted me in the lobby of the Marriott Marquis at GDC 2017.” He also noted that Pitchford was responsible for the siphoning of approximately $12 million in an employee royalty pool for his own use.
Eddings explained that he talked to Gearbox HR following the assault. But according to the tweet, “Randy fired me the next day.” But he was grateful the company would look into the matter. “Glad to hear @Gearboxofficial is taking the claim ‘very seriously’ as I’m eager to cooperate with whatever independent firm Gearbox/2K chooses for the ongoing investigation into Randy’s misdeeds (which should be fairly easy to conclude),” he said earlier today.
Here’s hoping the matter finds resolution sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, fans can expect Borderlands 3 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on September 13.
