You can't trash your business partners that would not be a good idea for anyone - who knows they could be in the process of negotiating an exclusive deal for a 3rd gears game as we speak... I'm sure Pachter was saying he's thinking Epic must be upset assuming the deal was multi-game, he probably has no idea what the deal is, or whether later deals were brokered for the sequels, it could have been pretty substantial.
Of course the guys going to say that when put on the spot. This doesn't prove Pachter's 'speculation' wrong.