And now the industry is suddenly seeing what happens when you want to push all these "cinematic" and "story-based" games, you get a bunch of people who feel like they're being screwed out of bigger pay checks. For instance, how many people can name Booker Dewitt and Joel from The Last of Us, but not name their voice actor (i.e. Troy Baker, who also had to commit a LOT of time with motion capture for the latter, time he could have spent on other projects that merely required he sit in a booth and do his craft). It does feel that at times incredibly talented VAs like Crispin "I have a voice so damn smooth it'll make you pregnant" Freeman, Steven Blum, Phil Lamarr, Jennifer Hale, D.C. Douglas, Laura Bailey, Travis Willingham, Richard Epcar (who once threw out his voice during a particularly stressful session for Spec-Ops: The Line), Matthew Mercer, Tara Strong, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, and tons of others are indeed being exploited by the industry. Companies bring up how important and widespread gaming is, and then give them a basic pay check.
And the thing is this. Who were the ones who brought up all this stuff about how much voice acting, production values, characters, writing, and everything else that is story-based is important to gaming? THE DESIGNERS. They don't get to complain about VAs perhaps demanding a bigger piece of the pie or at least some more recognition for their efforts when the companies are the ones who were bragging about it and helped create this environment in the first place.
Admittedly unions have issues; Spike Spencer, best known as Shinji Ikari from Evangelion, HATES unions despite being SAG eligible and finds that they're still problematic and can even PREVENT actors from properly supporting themselves. It's why actors like D.C. Douglas, Wendee Lee, and Cristina Valenzuela have Financial Core status that allows them to work on non-union projects or why Steven Blum has had no less than three aliases during his days where he was more prolific in anime dubbing. If a studio goes non-union it's probably for a very good reason, as seen with Atlus though they still give credit such as with their behind-the-scenes videos with the cast of Persona 4.
All in all, this is going to be a problem for gaming. They need to negotiate and take actors' grievances seriously. Some people say there are ten other actors that can fill a role, well guess what, there are also ten other roles an actor can take (especially if you're Steven Blum or Wendee Lee who have OBSCENE ranges). Devs are the ones who helped open this can of worms so they're going to have to work with it. At the very least I hope this means devs learn how to manage themselves better and not waste their money and time on pointless BS just to show off.
And the thing is this. Who were the ones who brought up all this stuff about how much voice acting, production values, characters, writing, and everything else that is story-based is important to gaming? THE DESIGNERS. They don't get to complain about VAs perhaps demanding a bigger piece of the pie or at least some more recognition for their efforts when the companies are the ones who were bragging about it and helped create this environment in the first place.
Admittedly unions have issues; Spike Spencer, best known as Shinji Ikari from Evangelion, HATES unions despite being SAG eligible and finds that they're still problematic and can even PREVENT actors from properly supporting themselves. It's why actors like D.C. Douglas, Wendee Lee, and Cristina Valenzuela have Financial Core status that allows them to work on non-union projects or why Steven Blum has had no less than three aliases during his days where he was more prolific in anime dubbing. If a studio goes non-union it's probably for a very good reason, as seen with Atlus though they still give credit such as with their behind-the-scenes videos with the cast of Persona 4.
All in all, this is going to be a problem for gaming. They need to negotiate and take actors' grievances seriously. Some people say there are ten other actors that can fill a role, well guess what, there are also ten other roles an actor can take (especially if you're Steven Blum or Wendee Lee who have OBSCENE ranges). Devs are the ones who helped open this can of worms so they're going to have to work with it. At the very least I hope this means devs learn how to manage themselves better and not waste their money and time on pointless BS just to show off.
