Pushing Buttons: the voice actors speaking out against NDAs, code names and poor pay
Stars of huge titles claim they get peanuts as games companies rake in millions. Now the lead actor on Bayonetta is asking fans to boycott its new game in protest
I have spent a few weeks talking to video-game voice actors, the real humans who bring verve and humour to our gaming experiences. Some of them have won major awards for their work. None of them have had a meaningful pay rise in over 10 years, despite the industry's exponential growth. They are furious - and they have every right to be.
Over the weekend, Hellena Taylor, who played the lead character in Bayonetta, Platinum Games' stylish action series about a hypersexualised angel-killing witch who fights with extreme flair, went public with her frustrations. She says she was offered just $4,000 (3,500) to reprise her role in the third game, out this month. In a series of videos she urged fans to boycott Bayonetta 3, and she has spoken about how being underpaid and overworked has affected her mental health. I didn't want the world. I didn't ask for too much," she said. I was just asking for a decent, dignified, living wage."
Speaking of performers, I spoke with the cast and director of Immortality - a game that's taken up permanent residence in my brain, and one so complex and mysterious that even its actors couldn't figure out how it was going to work. I greatly enjoyed speaking to everyone involved in this game.
This guy uses household objects to create pretend reload animations. Fascinating.
Oh dear, Meta's flagship Horizon metaverse is almost deserted, the Wall Street Journal reports. Murder Village is so quiet there's nobody to murder. There are no hot girls in the Hot Girl Summer Rooftop Pool Party. This WSJ story on Mark Zuckerberg's underperforming virtual world is full of gold: The next day, a male Journal reporter visited a house party' in which he was one of two people in attendance ... The other avatar never spoke and the game ended after about 10 minutes. The reporter's avatar later fell into the pool and couldn't figure out how to get out. There was no one around to help."
Horror aficionados of the PlayStation 2 era will be delighted to learn that the Silent Hill series is coming back. Konami will spill the details this Wednesday at 10pm BST.
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