While we know that many voice actors did not return to reprise roles in Borderlands 3, one finally revealed the exact reason as to why. Back in April Troy Baker, the voice of Rhys, said that Gearbox told him he would not be coming back. Now Troy has said in an interview with VG247 said that the reason was because Gearbox Software would not go union. Stating:
“I can’t do a non-union gig. And without getting too deep into the weeds of that, we had long conversations about this. We always knew going into it, that this was going to be the thing. They were going to take these characters, and put them from the Tales from the Borderlands series from Telltale, into Borderlands proper. I’ve been waiting for this call. They were like, ‘Do you want to do this?’ And I said, ‘Yes’. They never, because they would never move from that position. I’m not mad. It’s invariably a completely different character, but it still stings.”
SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents many actors in the industry, said in a statement to Kotaku:
“We applaud any member who stands up for workplace fairness and the integrity of their creative work. It is a courageous decision to act in the best interests of one’s fellow SAG-AFTRA members and this honors all working people.
The misguided decision by Gearbox to deny their performers the opportunity to have fair union wages, a safe workplace and the possibility of health care coverage for their families, is unfortunate.
We attempted to sign Gearbox to a union agreement. They refused and disengaged from those talks.
We look forward to hearing from any Gearbox performer who is interested in the many protections a union agreement offers actors.”
Other voice actors who did not return to reprise roles include Nolan North and David Eddings.
