From Star Wars to Starfield, voice actors hit out at Microsoft's AI decision: "If you want to start a voice-acting career, don't bother"
Nov. 7, 2023Microsoft’s recent announcement has made the industry’s future look bleak for voice actors
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Microsofthas introduced its latest AI efforts which are capable of generating character dialogue, and it’s got voice actors fearing for the future of the industry.
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Elias Toufexis, who is mainly known for their role as Adam Jensen in the Deus Ex series and Sam Coe inStarfield, has tweeted their frustration over Microsoft’s announcement, saying: “I’ve said it for years now. If you want to start a voice-acting career, don’t bother.” The actor continues: “All those jobs of nameless background NPCs that gave us all our start in the industry… they’re all going away. I’m already bitter.”
Shelby Young, who recently played Hami in Horizon Call of the Mountain and various characters inStar Wars Jedi: Survivor, also shared their concerns with Microsoft’s plans: “This is scary. Recording NPC’s is how many voice actors cut their teeth in this industry.” The tweet continues: “This will make it even harder for new talent to break into video games (which tbh can already be pretty difficult to begin with). I’m worried for game devs and writers as well.”
This news has got to be hugely disappointing and alarming for video game developers, writers, and voice actors alike. It’s especially disheartening considering how much praise an NPC conversation inMarvel’s Spider-Man 2received just recently. Shortly after theInsomniacsequel’s release, the internet collectively agreed thatMarvel’s Spider-Man 2 has one of the best pieces of NPC dialogue ever- a conversation that may not have existed without the use of real actors and writers.
Speaking of Elias Toufexis, the actor recently revealedthey failed an audition to play their own character in Deus Ex.
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After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training. My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I’m also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.
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