Stepping into the whirlwind of 2025's gaming showcases felt like diving headfirst into a technicolor dream. Everywhere I looked, trailers exploded with promise—Summer Game Fest, Xbox Games Showcase, Future Games Show—they painted the sky with our industry's relentless creativity. Behind every shimmering pixel and epic soundtrack? Real people, pouring their souls into these worlds. Funny how we celebrate the games but so often forget the countless hands and voices that shape them. My own journey through this landscape has been equal parts exhilarating and eye-opening, especially since stepping out from behind Karlach's fiery shadow in Baldur's Gate 3. 
Finding My Footing in New Realms
Honestly, the floodgates didn't burst open immediately after BG3. It took moments like walking the BAFTA red carpet or co-presenting the Future Games Show—moments where my face was actually seen—before the offers started feeling less like drips and more like a steady stream. Visibility matters, painfully so in this business. Suddenly, I was juggling:
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One in Fading Echo: A straight-up offer from New Tales (those wonderful ex-Blizzard folks in France). No audition! Jasmine Bhullar wanted me, which felt incredibly affirming. The access? Unprecedented! No suffocating NDA, just an open Discord invite letting me peek into their creative kitchen, see the animators work, understand the world. They handed me a game key too – actually playing the world I voice in? Revolutionary! The fluidity, the environmental adaptation… it sings. It feels like that early Star Wars magic, where collaboration wasn't just a buzzword.
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Cider in Absolum: This one, with the talented DotEmu team (Streets of Rage 4 alumni!), lets me flex as a semi-robotic rogue in a genre-bending beat 'em up. The demo’s already out there, flowing beautifully. What hooked me? The unexpected depth – RPG elements and serious narrative arcs woven into the chaos! A rogue? Absolutely my jam. Give me cunning over brute force any day.
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Oracle in Tron: Catalyst: Pure, campy sci-fi fun with Mike Bithell’s team. Knowing it was Tron instantly gave me the vibe – that neon-drenched fluidity, the thumping soundtrack. Michael Sheen’s deliciously over-the-top performance in the film? A definite touchstone. Mike trusted my instincts, letting me play.
Isn't it wild how these projects, recorded sometimes months apart, all decided to announce themselves in one glorious, overwhelming weekend? Yet, the SAG-AFTRA strike cast a long shadow. So many promising projects I’d signed onto are still in limbo, delayed, victims of that industry-wide standstill. We have that tentative agreement now, in 2025, but the ripples remain.
The Thrill (and Necessity) of Versatility
People sometimes ask, "How do you switch from Karlach to One to Cider?" For me, it’s the lifeblood of the job. I crave the stretch. Remember The Excavation of Hob's Barrow? That prim Victorian protagonist is nothing like Karlach. If I got typecast as seven-foot-tall tiefling warriors? I’d despair! (Though honestly, trying to physically intimidate people when you’re not actually seven feet tall? Amusingly futile in a world with laws).
| Project | Character | Genre Blend | Key Influence/Inspiration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fading Echo | One | Adventure/RPG | Wind Waker, Environmental Strategy |
| Absolum | Cider | Beat 'Em Up / Fantasy RPG | Streets of Rage, Golden Axe |
| Tron: Catalyst | Oracle | Sci-Fi / Action | Tron Legacy's Camp Aesthetic |
Each role demands a fresh approach. Tron let me be gloriously camp. Absolum leaned into rogueish charm. Fading Echo? It’s that Wind Waker-esque wonder fused with elemental strategy. Knowing the genre is crucial. Is it operatic like BG3? Pulpy like a beat 'em up? That knowledge directly fuels my performance. We actors aren't just hired voices anymore; so many of us are gamers who understand the medium.
Breaking the Mold: When Studios Dare to Be Different
My experience with New Tales on Fading Echo shattered every expectation. The CEO flew from France to take me and my agent to dinner! 😲 They pitched their passion project, born from their TTRPG roots. I wasn't just a cog; I felt like part of the family. Access to their Discord, seeing the pipeline, invited to their parties – this level of inclusion is staggeringly rare.
Contrast that with the industry standard: the dreaded "double NDA." You sign away your silence, and they still tell you nothing! You're handed a cold Excel spreadsheet and expected to conjure a world from cell references. How can we possibly deliver our best when we’re working blindfolded? With Fading Echo, knowing One’s world – a complex multiverse – meant walking into the booth fully informed. No floundering, just focused creation. Will this openness lead to a better performance, a better-received game? I hope so. I need this approach to catch on.
Other firsts popped up:
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Facial capture for a super-secret future project.
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Actually working alongside another actor during a game session (a novelty!).
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Projects separating mocap and voice – a different beast from BG3’s integrated approach.
Every studio, every director, has a wildly different process. It keeps you on your toes, but wouldn’t some baseline transparency benefit everyone?
The Visibility Paradox and Fighting for Fairness
Reflecting on the last few years is surreal. BG3’s success was lightning in a bottle, amplified incredibly by the fandom wielding that #BG3 hashtag like a wizard’s staff. But here’s the rub: being a voice in a hit game doesn’t magically translate to industry respect or even steady work. I trained back in 2009, and nobody prepares you for "niche internet fame" while still fighting for minimum rates. 😅
The mainstream media’s disinterest is palpable. When was the last time you saw a game actor on a major chat show? We fuel a multi-billion dollar industry – bigger than film and music combined! – yet the coverage defaults to tired stereotypes: "games cause violence," "basement dwellers," or just hyping the next Call of Duty or GTA. Where’s the love for cozy games? For innovative indies? For the people behind the pixels?
This invisibility fuels unfair practices:
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The Recognition Gap: My name alone doesn't command a fee. I have to prove my worth, waving around BAFTA noms and BG3 sales figures like some kind of bizarre audition trophy.
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The Minimum Wage Struggle: Believe it or not, I’m still often offered minimums. Many talented peers can’t even get that. The struggle is real, and the silence around it is deafening.
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Union Limitations (UK): With Equity in the UK, we’re hamstrung by Thatcher-era anti-union laws. Speaking out risks blacklisting. Collective bargaining feels like a distant dream. How do we build solidarity when generations have never seen it succeed?
Being part of the Pixel Pack shoot resonated deeply. It felt like action, not just talk. Talk is cheap. I want tangible change: transparency about canceled projects so devs get their due, fair compensation, breaking down the walls NDAs create. Why should perfectly good work vanish into the void, unacknowledged?
Looking Ahead: More Than Hope, It's a Necessity
Playing Fading Echo, seeing the care poured into it, gives me such joy. It connects to the games I loved growing up. But the industry’s crossroads moment is now. SAG-AFTRA's tentative agreement in 2025 is a start, but will it ripple across the pond? Will studios embrace the New Tales model of inclusion? Will mainstream media ever see us as more than vocal anomalies?
My hope isn't passive. It’s a demand simmering beneath the surface. We need:
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Radical Openness: Studios, trust your actors and devs. Share the vision. Ditch the excessive secrecy.
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Collective Courage: Actors and devs, we need to find safe ways to speak up together. The race to the bottom helps no one.
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Media Evolution: When will games coverage mature beyond shock headlines? Our art, our community, our craft deserves better.
The passion is there, burning bright in teams like New Tales and DotEmu. The talent is undeniable. But can we build an industry where that passion and talent are matched by fairness, recognition, and genuine respect? That’s the future I’m fighting for, one voice session, one conversation, one defiantly hopeful project at a time. The ride has been incredible so far, but honestly? The destination needs to be better than this.