• News

Troy Baker says he didn't turn down voicing Rhys in Borderlands 3

According to Baker, he didn't play Rhys for a very different reason than what Gearbox's Randy Pitchford stated.

Brittany Vincent

September 30, 2019 1:25 PM

12

As you may well be aware by now, Troy Baker was absent from Borderlands 3's voice cast. Previously, he had offered up his voice as Rhys Strongfork in the Tales from the Borderlands series.

Previously, Gearbox chief Randy Pitchford stated on Twitter that Baker had turned the job down, as relayed to him by the game's audio director. When asked by a fan why Baker didn't get to return as Rhys, Pitchford stated the following:

"You’ll have to ask Troy. I was told by the audio director that he turned it down. Fortunately, with how Rhys appears in the game, I don’t think it actually matters at all. You’ll see for yourself when the game comes out and you may disagree with me on that or not."

You’ll have to ask Troy. I was told by the audio director that he turned it down. Fortunately, with how Rhys appears in the game, I don’t think it actually matters at all. You’ll see for yourself when the game comes out and you may disagree with me on that or not.

— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) April 10, 2019

In an interview with VG247, Baker stated his side of the story.

"So they came to me, and they were like, 'Do you want to do this?' " said Baker.

"Which I said, 'Absolutely.' And then they made it impossible for me to do the role. It had nothing to do with money, it had nothing to do with money. They just simply would not go about doing it the way that we needed it to be done. So then it was like, I never said no."

When VG247 asked him to clarify, Baker said this:

"No, it was simply a matter of they wouldn't go union. And 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."

I'm honored to announce that I play mustache Rhys in Borderlands 3.

I played all of TftB and greatly admired @TroyBakerVA's hilarious performance - his work is a true inspiration to me! I'm not a perfect voice match, but a new interpretation.

I sincerely hope you enjoy! pic.twitter.com/nbgESmBOXv

— Ray Chase (@RayChase) May 1, 2019

Instead, voice actor Ray Chase was tapped to play Rhys, who also voices Noctis in Final Fantasy XV. Gearbox has yet to comment on the matter.

Brittany Vincent

Senior Editor

Fueled by horror, rainbow-sugar-pixel-rushes, and video games, Brittany is a Senior Editor at Shacknews who thrives on surrealism and ultraviolence. Follow her on Twitter @MolotovCupcake and check out her portfolio for more. Like a fabulous shooter once said, get psyched!