Borderlands News: Gearbox Software co-founder witnessed Randy Pitchford assault Claptrap voice actor David Eddings

As we move closer to the release of Borderlands 3, Gearbox Software CEO Randy Pitchford has continually been under fire. Between reports that he neglected to bring in the voice actor of Rhys, Troy Baker, and opting to make a deal with the Epic Game Store to make the title an Epic exclusive on PC, Pitchford has not won over many of his critics and seems to have alienated many of his fans.

Another claim that attacked the credibility and character of Pitchford was when David Eddings took to Twitter last week to say that he was assaulted by him a few years back. Eddings' statement was a response to a claim by Pitchford that the Claptrap voice actor was simply a "bitter and disgruntled" former employee, angry at his termination.

Eddings stated that Pitchford had physically assaulted him at the 2017 Game Developers Conference after things got a little heated. He went on to say that Pitchford's been "on tilt" over the past few years.

Now, one of the five original co-founders of Gearbox, Landon Montgomery, has backed up Eddings' statement.

In an exclusive interview with Newsweek, Eddings further detailed the incident saying,

He shoved the f*** out of me while I'm on the balls of my feet trying to whisper. [He] knocked me back four steps... I believe I caught him ina deception.

Eddings backed it up by giving the names of two people who witnessed the event: Mario Kroll and Landon Montgomery. Kroll told Newsweek that he had stepped away around the time it took place, therefore he wasn't able to confirm or deny it happening.

However, Montgomery did support his story.

David leaned up to whisper something to Randy and out of the blue, Randy shoves him, hard.

For now, the situation is still murky. As far as voicing Claptrap, Eddings said that if Pitchford apologized and he was given the royalties he was owed, he'd be more than happy to voice the character free of charge.

Newsweek was able to get a statement from Gearbox Software following the accusations. The developer decided not to make any official comments on the situation or Eddings, instead focusing on the incredible project that their team has been working on.

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 think it’s a shame that the 400+ employees here who have poured the love and passion into Borderlands 3 are having their work be diluted by personal allegations.