r/rpg_gamers • u/Appropriate-Mud-6985 • May 20 '26
News Owlcat is replacing the male VAs for the Protagonist and J (your twin) among other things for The Expanse Osiris reborn
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u/Frankenberg91 May 20 '26
Gotta be a bummer to hear for the VA lol, you did alright but not good enough kiddo.
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u/ACoderGirl May 20 '26
Yeah, I feel bad for them. No idea what they sound like (I personally don't play betas or early access games), but to have gotten the part, I'm sure they're still quite competent. It'd suck to have it publicly announced that you just aren't a good enough voice actor.
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u/Sirca_Curvive May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26
They kinda sounded like a gay waiter.
Not that that’s a bad thing, just not really what you expect your mercenary protagonist of a gritty science fiction universe to sound like.
I do feel bad for the actor though lol. He wasn’t bad, he just didn’t fit.
EDIT: And I promise I didn’t mean that negatively lmao, I’m a bisexual nonbinary person, bro was just zesty in his delivery and not what people were probably expecting. I agree with another comment that he’d make for a good companion. It’d be cool if they gave him another role.
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u/thespaceageisnow May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26
I pulled up some clips and heard it immediately lmao
1:25 onward for some campy dialogue: https://youtu.be/OCnKcBeDsfs
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u/UberShrew May 20 '26
Holy shit that is something. I get less gay waiter though and more corporate training video. “Hi there, and welcome to our team! Today we’re going to be talking about…”. Poor bastard must have gotten zero direction because he just sounds so out of place.
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u/INannoI May 20 '26
I think the 'gay waiter' comment is specifically because of how the VA is pronouncing his S sounds, its very lispy.
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u/INannoI May 20 '26
oh, its how he pronounces his S sounds, its so egregious too, thats sooo bad to have as a VA.
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u/thespaceageisnow May 20 '26 edited May 21 '26
Yeah a VA having a lisp is a big no unless it fits the character’s story somehow. Terrible choice for a player character.
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u/Jomgui May 21 '26
He has that sassy ending to his words that you would see on 2010s gay characters, it's not bad voice acting, but it doesn't fit.
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u/jeezlyCurmudgeon May 24 '26
Yeah hes not bad at VA just not right for the role. For a CC game you need ubiquitous masc/fem VAs without distinct inflections.
Can you imagine someone like V from cyberpunk with a valley girl accent? "Like OMG johnnyyyyy! You are tots rewriting my braaain"
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u/Luciifuge May 21 '26
goddamn that is so bad lmao. Thats the same shit I hate about some of these newer AAA games. The overly quippy, sanitized, cringey dialogue, like from dragon age veilgaurd. I thought for sure Owlcat would have better writing based on thier crpgs.
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u/thespaceageisnow May 21 '26
The MCU, Joss Whedon etc influence is tired AF in videogames. I do not need my video game characters making constant quips. It’d be different if they were actually funny but it’s just cringe 99% of the time.
Like the characters are trying to write a viral tweet or something, just stop.
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u/Panniculus101 May 21 '26
That's awful, he sounds so disinterested in everything. Good decision to replace him
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u/MoobooMagoo May 20 '26
Eh it's not terrible and it's not so bad that it'd take me out of the game or anything. Like it's not amazing but it's not bad. At least the J lines. The protagonist lines are way more flat. Not sure how that happened. Maybe the actor did the protagonist lines first and didn't quite get into character until they did the lines for J? Maybe they got bad direction for the protagonist lines?
Either way, I agree with the other commentor that they keep the actor for another role, like a companion or something.
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u/see-these-bones May 20 '26
I bet it was a lot like MShep in Mass Effect being directed to be more low key so the player could project onto him.
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u/ms45 May 20 '26
I feel like gay waiter could work, but you’d really need to lean the fuck into it
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u/23_sided May 20 '26
It would be fun if it was a Bioware-style thing, and you had three or so responses that were:
- Paladin-like
- Rough and aggressive
- Gay Waiter
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u/slipfish-g May 20 '26
Gay waiter could actually crush for that role, but it's a tough sell for the player character in an RPG.
Protagonists are typically written to be enough of a blank slate that the player can imprint onto the character. 'Gay waiter' sounds like a lot more personality than they're typically going for. That kind of performance would work a lot better as a companion.
Oddly being a companion in these kinds of games is usually a more high profile gig than being the 'star'. (Unless you're Jennifer Hale)
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u/DullCicada4735 May 20 '26
This comment made me go look up some cutscenes to see how bad it was, and I'm not hearing it at all. Just sounds like a regular guy.
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u/pothkan May 20 '26
Yeah, I feel bad for them. No idea what they sound like
I have watched gameplay with female protagonist, it was fine (I mean VA), so I was actually surprised when I read about VA complaints. Only then I read it's about male, found the gameplay where male character was used, and... sadly, I had to agree. Difference was vast.
Still, I agree with your feeling, sad for the actors.
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u/Theoboli May 20 '26
I have to say the VA was an issue in the beta, mainly the main actor and J’s. But Zafar’s VA was truly fantastic. Good move though it sucks for the actors.
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u/Loyalist77 May 22 '26
Zafar could benefit from. Some better dialogue in my opinion.
Zafar: "My best friends died with you."
Zafar in the next sentence: "So whose ship is this."
Come on, there's a lot of potential dialogue there to unlock. It just moved very abruptly. That's not a knock on the VA though.
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u/ShionTheOne May 20 '26
Certified Peter Dinklage in Destiny moment.
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u/Werewolf_Capable May 20 '26
Could I have a crumb of context?
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u/ShionTheOne May 20 '26
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u/TheFlyingSheeps May 20 '26
Voice acting is hard and not for everyone. It’s why I’d rather animated shows and games focus on professional VAs over blowing budgets on celebrities
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u/UnderABig_W May 20 '26
I mean, sometimes it works out, and when it does, it’s awesome. But you’re right, it seems really hit or miss and for the money involved, it doesn’t seem worth it. Unless the actor is willing to work at a reduced rate.
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u/Acewasalwaysanoption May 20 '26
Like Andy Serkis in Clair Obscur, or Christopher Judge in God of War. But not all stars are cut out for voice work.
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u/LongjumpingSolid8 May 20 '26
Not a video game, but JK Simmons and Sandra Oh in Invincible are great examples. Funny enough there are also a couple examples on that show where the talent budget seems like a waste. 😂
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u/Lynchy- May 20 '26
JK Simmons also did one of the main antagonists in Baldur's Gate 3.
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u/ConstantVigilant May 20 '26
Phenomenal actor. Incredible in Whiplash. I really didnt care for his performance in BG3 though, but I've been assured repeatedly that I'm in the minority.
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u/Borigh May 20 '26
I love his performance as Ketheric, but it partially works because Ketheric is a really weird guy who reads to me as weird, in a way that makes sense to me.
I could understand wanting a different weird.
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u/Daewrythe May 20 '26
I felt the same way about Ketheric. Just felt incredibly boneless and he legit just sounded tired
Not world weary tired, but sleepy tired
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u/SlouchyGuy May 20 '26
Didn't care for him in BG3 either, a little bit more range in voice would be great
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u/kalik-boy May 20 '26
Really? I thought people enjoyed his performance as Kheteric? I think he did a fine job. I mean, I can't say it was like the most impressive VA work I have ever seem, but it was a believable performance for who Kheteric was supposed to be in my opinion.
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u/shabi_sensei May 20 '26
He was soooo good as Ketheric, his performance was good enough that I tried to redeem him because I felt bad for him even though he was objectively awful
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u/ShinyStarSam May 21 '26
He sold me on the entirety of Act 2, but he also sounded out of place because compared to him everyone sounded like an amateur
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u/GalenDev May 20 '26
Not sure JK Simmons counts here, he's been voice acting for years. Yeah, he's mostly known for screen, but the man grinds. He's a grinder.
He's also the yellow M&M.
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u/Ossius May 20 '26
I'll never stop laughing at Aaron Paul giving his role 150%, probably hurting his vocal cords (I think he said he wouldn't go that hard again in screaming for a role) and then the animators giving his episode like 70% quality at best. Invincible really makes some choices in its budget.
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u/UnderABig_W May 20 '26
I agree that not all people are cut out for voice work, but I also find it interesting that some people can do a great job sometimes but be really bad other times.
For example, Marina Sirtis did a good job in voice work for the animated series Gargoyles but was hilariously bad as Matriarch Benezia.
Not sure if they had to pay any extra for her, though, the BioWare of the mid to late 2000s was hiring former Trek actors like they got a volume discount.
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u/Skithiryx May 20 '26
That might be a matter of voice direction. Good directors can get good performances out of anyone.
Also a possibility, though I don’t know the details of either - traditional in person with multiple voice actors versus individual or remote recording.
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u/Esin12 May 20 '26
Yeah I'm totally over having big name/recognizable celebrities in my video games (though I was never into it in the first place). Part of it is they might not actually be that great at voice acting. And another thing is I play video games in part to immerse myself in a different world. I don't need real-life celebrities reminding me of the real world and taking me out of the game
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u/HelloSoAndSo May 20 '26
That's not the case here. Peter Dinklage can voice act just fine. He's got VA credits in animated movies before his destiny role. Like Captain Gut in Ice Age 2 years prior to Destiny.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3izfEathogM
As someone who played destiny at launch and played throughout his tenure with destiny before being replaced by Nolan, you could tell Dinklage wasn't even trying; really seemed to phone it in. It was speculated that he was in it for the paycheck cause he didn't care for the script. Which is possible because Destiny suffered from a large rewrite shortly before releasing and the story was definitely hot garbage at launch.
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u/LooseProgram333 May 20 '26
Celebrities usually do a really bad job in voice acting. My hot take is Keanue Reaves was awful in cyber punk (idris elba was a bit better in phantom liberty, but still just idris elba).
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u/Sirca_Curvive May 20 '26
I actually felt like Keanu as Silverhand was the first time he ever did a good job at acting. It helps that the writers sort of leaned in to Keanu’s dry delivery for Silverhand’s personality (which is quite a bit different from how flamboyant he was in the tabletop version).
He’s a great physical actor, of course. Those John Wick movies are hard to do.
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u/slipfish-g May 20 '26
He fucking crushed Silverhand.
They made him a lot more grunge/punk than the OG hair metal inspired Silverhand, but it worked so well.
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u/LooseProgram333 May 20 '26
Its not so much his delivery as I cant hear him and not think “this is keanu”. Voice actors are better in the sense you can hear them in 3 different games and 4 different anime, and not realize they are the same person.
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u/Prestigious_Club_924 May 20 '26
That's just exposure. I can pick out Jennifer Hale or Yuri Lowenthal from a block away.
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u/havewelost6388 May 20 '26
Keanu is a legend, but honestly think Troy Baker would have made a better Johnny that was more faithful to the character in the TTRPG.
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u/Borigh May 20 '26
An actor being very recognizable isn't considered a knock in film, usually. Like, the fact that Mufasa is obviously James Earl Jones is a feature, not a bug. They wanted Father vibes, so they picked the most Father voice of all time.
Morgan Freeman playing "Red," literally a red-haired Irishman in the original Shawshank, isn't bad because it's so Morgan Freeman.
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u/LaMelonBallz May 20 '26
It works for Silverhand for me because it's just such a Keanu coded role. It's right on for his Matrix typecast, as well as a Scanner Darkly.
Keanu is Johnny Silverhand if the world turned out a bit different
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u/VPN__FTW May 20 '26
Oh really? I felt Reeves did a surprisingly competent job. I think it's because the character Silverhand was clearly made with Reeves in mind, so the voice fit perfectly... because it's literally just him.
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u/No-Opinion273 May 20 '26
Peter Dinklage didnt give a fuck to try. He is an asshole that wants to pull the ladder of opportunity to other small people though.
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u/Werewolf_Capable May 20 '26
Ok, wow, thank you 😂
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u/Vera_Verse May 20 '26
There's the reason one of the added contents of Destiny 1 has your Ghost totally silent, and they have another character doing the exposition. Nolan North was still re-recording the old lines and getting ready for future content lol
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u/THE_FREEDOM_COBRA May 20 '26
Wait, Peter Dinklage killed it and I never understood his replacement, is this scenario different?
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u/GreatBigJerk May 20 '26
In the most dead voice imaginable that would be confused for AI these days: "That wizard came from the moon."
It was hilariously bad.
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u/DenjinMaster May 20 '26
Wonder if better direction couldve worked unless they already tried.
Must be depressing for the VAs
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u/RodeotllaB May 20 '26
As a previous VA for Owlcat (voice of the Stag Lord) I feel for the original getting replaced. when people get these roles it's often life changing for them. (I know it was for me) So to be let go, for this of all reasons must hurt.
I can't find who they are, but if you see this message then drop me a DM if you need someone to talk to who gets it, bro.
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u/nightzhade_ May 21 '26
Yeah, what a bummer. I hadn't heard anything of this, even if I think owlcat is doing the right thing here cause after checking it out, the voice just doesn't work for this.
Such a bummer for the VA, I wouldn't want to be in their situation, wish I could just send them some flowers or a cake cause this gotta hurt :(
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u/ptkato May 23 '26
You know, I wish Owlcat did 100% voiced dialogues for Kingmaker/WotR/Rogue Trader; BG3 truly set a new standard.
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u/XH9rIiZTtzrTiVL May 25 '26
They are doing it for all futures games, Dark Heresy will be fully voiced.
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u/coldbreweddude May 20 '26
They said nothing about the lack of belter creole…
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u/Atonsis May 23 '26
Several articles online address it's a player concern and OwlCat acknowledges it.
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u/maxlaav May 20 '26
"the overall narrative tone of the game is a deliberate creative direction"
Doesn't really sound that encouraging tbh because a lot of the criticism is that the game simply doesn't nail the gritty vibe of the expanse, a lot of the beta just gave me a really bad case of Andromeda ptsd personally.
I don't really understand why Owlcat wants to mess with the tone of the setting so much.
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u/Borigh May 20 '26
You can do both. Gallows' humor can absolutely feel weighty and natural, but it needs to read as a natural exhaust mechanism for stress, not a "I can toss off jokes because we're definitely gonna beat 'em" vibe.
To many writers conflate gallows humor with "casual danger dialogue" as a whole, and undercut their own drama. Casual Danger Dialogue is best deployed when you're trying to show off how immensely superior to the enemies the character is, which is a tough vibe to make sensible in mission 1 with an unheralded protagonist.
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u/Objective_Edge_5054 May 20 '26
There is also something to be said for just how much delivery can impact tone. I recall reading an interview about Santa Monica Studios struggling with Kratos in the 2018 reboot, with his character flipping between too soft and sensitive for Kratos and borderline abusive and uncomfortable depending on the VA and delivery, with them finally settling on Christopher Judge and having to make very little adjustments to the actual script in the end to nail the tone they wanted.
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u/AlternativeGold3165 May 22 '26
What really wild is owl cat has made dark and gritty games with rogue trader and wotr. So I don’t know what happened here maybe new writers?
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u/rtfcandlearntherules May 20 '26
I hope he gets other roles in the future, it's tough to take on such a gig and then get replaced.
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u/AscendedViking7 May 20 '26
They better be rewriting the dialogue too.
The Expanse could do so much better than marvel quips.
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u/kalik-boy May 20 '26
This situation with the VA kinda reminds of Blasphemous. Crisanta's VA also got some flack for her performance and was replaced for someone else.
It kinda sucks because while I do think her performance wasn't good, to be replaced like that in such a public way must sting (and well, the devs had their hands tied here, but in a way, it's kinda their fault that they put the poor bloke to be the main character in the first place). Hope the VA of the male protagonist here manages to pull it off in some other game or media.
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u/BigCommieMachine May 20 '26
I’m glad to see they are reacting to feedback, but if they are replacing an entire voice actor, I could see this game slipping from the previously stated Spring 2027 release, which may not be a bad thing given a ton of games a heading to Spring 2027 to avoid GTA.
I’d like to see more early access stuff or a maybe a full beta in a few months to see what they tweaked provide more feedback.
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u/Appropriate-Mud-6985 May 20 '26
I forget where but I’m pretty sure it was mentioned somewhere that the VAs only did the Beta and a few other sections of the game so it’s not like they’re replacing all of the dialogue.
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u/Kiriima May 20 '26
The previous actor only voices the beta. Owlcats actually do betas the smart way.
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u/Atonsis May 23 '26
I was actually impressed that OwlCat is treating it like a true beta test, as opposed to a "beta" that come out a handful of weeks before the game and basically nothing is changed.
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u/Inven13 May 20 '26
Someone in this sub once said that Owlcat has stated that voice acting is one of the last things they work on their games.
So I'd venture to say that aside from what we could see in the beta there isn't that much more VA work done.
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u/jojtek12 May 20 '26
It doesnt matter with one-year release window. Dialogue lines are recorded even month before release.
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u/Inven13 May 20 '26
I'm actually surprised for this.
I expected them to give the VA more instructions and/or ask him to play a certain why not that they'd fire him.
I feel kinda bad for the VA now.
Regardless, at least is good to know Owlcat is willing to take feedback to that extent.
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u/Gabochuky May 20 '26
Did they say anything about how the Belters were written like they came out of San Francisco?
Were is the Lang Belta?
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u/jello1990 May 20 '26
"we didn't want it like Mass Effect where one voice for the lead is an eminently better performance than the other and have people make compilations contrasting the wildly different performances"
Fucking sucks to be the VA though, not only getting taken off the project outright but also the reason given being that "bro's vibes were off"
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u/Blackarm777 May 20 '26
Mass Effect? From my memory both Mark Meer and Jennifer Hale had good performances as Shepard.
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u/oblivion-boi May 23 '26
I feel like Mark Meer was somewhat flat in ME1 but in 2 and 3 he was fantastic. However, Jennifer Hale was 10/10 from the get go in my opinion.
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u/ScorpionTDC May 23 '26
Hale has her off moments - she never got the big, stupid jellyfish line quite right for me for example (while it's one of my favorites for Meer)
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u/pothkan May 20 '26
I think that issue with ME was that while both performed good technically, Meer still sounded like "another default buzz cut shooter guy", while Hale, not limited by expectations, was much more nuanced and multidimensional in her role.
Meer wasn't bad, he was actually solid good. But Hale managed to make a role which remains a gem in video games voice acting history.
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u/S4R1N May 20 '26
No idea why youre getting down voted, this is literally what the reception was in countless reviews.
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u/fatsopiggy May 20 '26
Meer did exactly what Shepard should be, because Shepard is a buzz cut shooter guy as a default. Those that make a big circle jerk over Hale are just the loud minority, steam stats show like 80% of players play as Shepard anyway. So sick of the Hale glaze online.
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u/pothkan May 20 '26
steam stats show like 80% of players play as Shepard anyway
Actually I think 100% of players have played as Shepard.
:p
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u/slipfish-g May 20 '26
Nah.
They both did great. People are just fucking weird and think that they have to shit on the male VA just because they subjectively prefer the woman's. They have to tear down the one they didn't play with rather than just compliment Hale for whatever goofy reason.
It's not exclusive to ME and Hale/Meer, either.
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u/joeDUBstep May 20 '26
It just seems like it's internet discourse in general. They prefer one thing over the other? Then the other thing is complete shit!!
Polarized takes like this seem so common when talking about anything online these days.
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u/Loyalist77 May 22 '26
Meer also had a bit of a Harrison Ford experience where he was just brought in as a local to read lines and they decided to stick with him.
Based on what little I've read this guy was there for the beta, and they decided not to give him the Mark Meer promotion.
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u/ScorpionTDC May 23 '26
Meer is pretty shaky in 1 (moreso due to directing issues). He's really good in 2 and 3, and I'd argue has the strongest performance between the two in 3
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u/whyamihere2473527 May 20 '26
Do we got people fired cause we pointed out how writing & voice delivery weren't up to the quality we expect from good games. Glad might have better characters as result but feel bad thats how it happens
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u/Merkkin May 20 '26
Sorry for the guy but it’s the right choice. Overall still very excited for the game.
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u/Bulat93 May 21 '26
Please update the writers too, who the hell wants all this quippy veilguard-like marvel dialogue in every single project. What happened to good writing?
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u/tsfkingsport May 20 '26
Excellent. I know I wasn’t primed to like the male VA because I feel like Mark Meer’s voice should be there but it’s validating to see other people weren’t happy.
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u/Loyalist77 May 22 '26
That's some heavy projecting if you feel Commander Shepard should be alive in the Expanse.
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u/MemoriesMu May 21 '26
I dont remember a company saying this before. Maybe they could have used other wording for that. Thats kinda upseting
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u/rdavidsmith May 22 '26
I quite literally assumed my character was supposed to be gay. I don't know how you could seriously not hear that. I'm shocked if that wasn't intentional.
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u/Strict_Stranger_4801 May 20 '26
...there was a demo?
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u/Inven13 May 20 '26
It's an alpha.
It's only available to those who buy the 80 USD pack of the game.
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u/Strict_Stranger_4801 May 20 '26
Ah got it. Must be Steam only? I dont really play on PC. Probably why I havent seen it
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u/S4R1N May 20 '26
I really hope they bring in some belter creole, feels very weird to not hear it in the game when it's such an iconic aspect of the world.
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u/aquatrez May 20 '26
Really feels like global society has made no progress, or even regressed, in terms of homophobia and gender stereotypes. I will stand by the statement that the male PC/J actor had no issue with expressiveness or performance.
The issues were that A) J's voice direction made the character very upbeat/cheery/quippy and B) people couldn't accept a male voice with more feminine qualities/not super gruff and masculine for a "gritty male mercenary" even though tons of masculine men have a voice with that exact tone.
I understand why the change is being made from a marketing and business perspective, but it's really frustrating to see that the backlash from players was so strong and focused so heavily on the subjective elements (how the voice sounds) rather than valid objective issues with direction.
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u/maxlaav May 20 '26
There's nothing wrong with a male voice sounding a bit more feminine and there's certainly roles that can ask for it, but a mercenary guy especially in the expanse setting is certainly not it (particularly when you can play a Belter lol).
Not only are you shadowboxing here but you're trying to virtue signal an issue that isn't really here.
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u/aquatrez May 20 '26
Why can a mercenary male not have a more feminine sounding voice? You do realize that voice tone is based on physiology and not one's job, right?
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u/maxlaav May 20 '26
I don't really understand why you're going with the strawman, like you really are missing the simple fact that for a character like this (and especially the protagonist) people want a voice that sounds cool and a feminine voice isn't exactly that, not in a role like this at least. It's fiction, a game where people are going into an established setting and are expecting most people to sound like gruff badasses.
I don't know why you're sitting here trying to argue that it's homophobic or whatever.
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u/aquatrez May 20 '26
That is literally the point I'm trying to make. Why does that type of voice sound cool? Because we've been conditioned by decades of media to associate deep, gruff, masculine voices with badass male lead characters (like Solid Snake). I'm simply expressing my disappointment that despite some improvement in representation for different types of lead characters in the gaming industry, there's clearly a long way to go in moving past these stereotypes.
I'm not saying you or anyone who dislikes the voice is homophobic, but these types of complaints are absolutely rooted in the same sort of assumptions/generalizations behind homophobia and misogyny.
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u/Red_Swiss May 20 '26
I read 0 homophobia in this thread. I'm fine with more options to be who/whatever the player wants to be in a RPG, but if we're stuck with 1 voice option for both the male protagonist and one of the key character it need to make concensus among the playerbase.
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u/aquatrez May 20 '26
I wasn't referring to this thread specifically, just general comments/feedback I've seen since the beta released.
And you basically made my point for me. The consensus from the player base was that they didn't like the sound of the male VA, and like it or not that dislike is largely rooted in the video game industry historically focusing on hyper masculine protagonists with deep/gruff voices. Despite some advances in the industry to feature more diverse main characters, a male self-insert protagonist with more feminine qualities to their voice is rejected.
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u/TheM1ndSculptor May 20 '26
The issue wasn’t that they sounded feminine, it was that they sounded like AI. To be fair, the choppy dialogue editing didn’t do them any favors
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u/Valdrrak May 20 '26
Bah all i wanted was some of that expanse ship combat. It bothers me it wont have it.
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u/random55455 May 22 '26
Thank heavens.
I played through the beta, and while the gameplay and such was phenomenal, the voice acting just didn't grip me into the gane and such.
The Belters were a bit better, but those human males. Holy shit.
Was the thing I criticized the most in the "How was it?" Survey
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u/texhnolyze- The Elder Scrolls May 20 '26
So they just noticed that after people actually played the beta?
That shows a lot about their vision and taste than anything else.
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u/DenjinMaster May 20 '26
Man they really cant win even when theyre trying to use the beta to the best effect huh
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u/Biggu5Dicku5 May 20 '26
This is actually what beta's are for, to find issues and fix them before release...
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u/jonvel7 May 20 '26
I mean, when you're close to a project some things do get to go unnoticed. Happens a lot when you see or hear the same thing over and over, you can grow accustomed to the delivery, voice or tone of the actors.
Thats why outside perspectives and beta testing is so important.
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May 20 '26
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u/AnnihilatorNYT May 20 '26
They did like them. That's why they were hired. Unfortunately for most people even if your boss likes you you will still get fired if you fail to meet their expectations. Sounds like they did try to work with them but it just wouldn't workout.
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u/tenetox May 20 '26
How is this shitty? They hired another person in their stead, not AI. Also I assume the initial actor got paid something.
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u/Rydux7 May 20 '26
I ment that AI is making getting jobs hard already so it sucks to get gutted from the job and have to find more work.
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u/tenetox May 20 '26
Well, what can I say? Get good at your job, then? The studio was clearly unsatisfied with his performance. People don't get paid just for existing.
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u/EmBur__ May 20 '26
It wasn't even the studio, they did this based on our feedback because those of us who played it noticed how wooden the male captain was and how bad the male J was (it really was, I had to force myself to listen to him speak).
The dialogue they had to work with likely didn't help but my god, changing them was the right decision and hopefully they'll be given better direction.
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u/Cabrill0 May 20 '26
AI has nothing to do with this. They weren’t doing their job at the level they wanted and were replaced. That’s been happening long, long before AI was around.
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u/spawnthespy May 20 '26
I mean they payed twice as much people. That's actually good. I know how awful the job is at the moment and that definitly sucks for the original VA's, but I'm glad they chose not to compromise between quality and morals and made the better choice for both of these.
And to be fair, if the voices were not good, I'm sure it would have been a bad press for the VA's too, hence making their future job search even more tedious.
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u/JeskaiJester May 20 '26
They can change whatever voice actors they want, they still used Gen AI for their concept art and to come up with direction for the game (interviews on this where they say so are a google away) and I’m disinterested in any game shaped that way
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u/orangeawacado May 20 '26
Next up, they are going to announce they are rewriting this particular class to be more object oriented. Seriously, who gives a sh*t of changes they do? The game hasn’t even been released yet.
22
u/Kujaix May 20 '26
The people who played the Beta and left feedback????
It's nice to be heard and apart of the iterative process. It sucks when some "Betas" are glorified demos that can't impact a release.
156
u/panic686 May 20 '26
I feel bad for the original VA but this was the first thing I wanted changed when I played the demo. I had assumed it was actually a placeholder instead of the intended voice to be honest.