This is why Claptrap's voice in Borderlands 3 is different

By Colin Stevens

Claptrap of Borderlands 3, as many fans have noticed during this week's gameplay, has a new voice, and Gearbox and the original vocal actor have explained why.

David Eddings, original actor of Claptrap, revealed on Twitter that he was not resuming his role in Borderlands 3 because he "insisted that my performance be paid and that suddenly they could not pay me any more".

After contacting Gearbox, an official spokesman told IGN:

"Gearbox is working to treat and compensate all voice actors to industry standards. We offer employees employees the opportunity to express characters in the game, but this is not an obligation that falls on the requirements of their work. In this particular case, now that he was no longer an employee, we offered him a standard fare, but we could not reach an agreement. We are confident and happy to see Jim Foronda as Claptrap's voice, and we are confident that our fans will be too. "

Eddings previously worked for Gearbox as Vice President of Business Development for nearly 12 years. He also talked about Claptrap in addition to his main role. In 2017, he joined Rooster Teeth as a Games Publishing Manager and is no longer a Gearbox employee. Although Edings' initial comments on the subject may seem negative, he went on to say: "In the end, my exit from GBX has created at least three job opportunities for other people, which is positive. "

The new Claptrap actor is Jim Foronda, known for his work on various Funimation shows, including many credits from the Dragon Ball franchise. After the unveiling of the Borderlands 3 gameplay, Foronda posted on Twitter "Here is my official announcement saying what many of you have already understood: I'm expressing Claptrap in # Borderlands3. Thank you for your support – I promise you all that I will be the best Clappy I can be! "

Claptrap is not the only role in Borderlands 3 to have changed hands, because Troy Baker, the first actor of Rhys, will not come back for the last opus. Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford suggested Baker give up the role, though he quickly said he "would like to come back" and that was not his decision. In the end, the role was taken over by Ray Chase.

During this week's revelation, we learned a lot about Borderlands 3, including 61 story details, gameplay and more. You can check out our game preview, which we consider to be narrower, better set up, Borderlands 2.

Borderlands 3 arrives on PC, PS4 and Xbox One on September 13th. In the meantime, you can check out our complete guide to pre-order bonuses and Borderlands 3 special editions.

A tip to give us? Do you want to discuss a possible story? Thank you to send an email to [email protected].

Colin Stevens is a news writer for IGN. Follow on Twitter.