Tips To Find Video Game Voice Actors To Elevate Your Gaming Experience

From Assassin’s Creed, PubG, Resident Evil and Tomb Raider, to Batman: Arkham Asylum, the complex, challenging, and ambitious video games have come a long way since the simple arcade games of the 1970s. The scale of video game production values and audience reach has evolved over the past few decades. Today, the most popular video games are franchises with production budgets, crew sizes, and global audience bases that can rival the biggest Hollywood blockbusters. Storylines in today’s video games are far more epic and intricate than they ever used to be, and it isn’t rare for a game to feature a cast of hundreds of different characters.

With more than 2.5 billion video gamers across the world, Video game voice over has opened new avenues for the voice actors! Video games, once solely focused on technical gameplay and visuals, have today become an interactive storytelling medium where good voice acting has become essential to the experience. Games are now reviewed for voice acting performances as the players are actually listening to the performances more than they ever have before. As the best video games pull us into their worlds, enabling us to enter an alternate reality, filled with curiosity and adventure, video game voices help to make the characters and storylines highly captivating. As a gaming content creator, you must incorporate engaging voices to bring your characters to life and increase user engagement. Here’s a breakdown of the kind of roles required for any Video game voice over:

1. Protagonist : Examples: Kratos in God of War, Lara Croft in Tomb Raider
2. Antagonist : Examples: Captain LeChuck in The Secret of Monkey Island, The Illusive Man in Mass Effect 3
3. Voice Narrator: Examples: Cheerful Farm, Three-in-a-row

Today gamers have very high expectations not only regarding gameplay, but also regarding voice acting. Therefore, you need a voice talent who can do justice to the character you have developed and bring out the nuances of your creations. The games that captivate players today are more diverse and wide-ranging than video games of the past. They are played across multiple devices, feature larger casts of characters and more complex storylines, and use the power of the human voice to tell immersive and engaging stories. The ability to perform video game voice over requires unique skills and a deep understanding of producing high quality voice recording services. It takes a unique style of voice to pull off video game voice over. There are a number of highly talented voice actors out there, but that doesn’t mean that all of them are equipped with the necessary skills to make it in video game voice over. The ideal video game voice actor will harbor a voice that is simultaneously expressive and capable of conveying authority. Furthermore, video game voice overs are not just limited to storytelling, they can narrate the thoughts of characters who may or may not appear in-game, and who shed light on the game’s plot. You can also use voice overs to give vital clues for puzzles that players come across, and to create more engagement for adventure and elearning games.

Here are some of the traits that you must look in the voice artists to gain a high traction and turn your video game into a success:

1. Getting into the shoes of the character : Just like any other acting role, it is crucial to understand the idea, plot, setting and characters of the video game project that the voice artist will be acting in. Knowing the story, concept and personality behind the video game character, the artist can create a strong and impactful performance. Also using creativity to mould a character’s voice can help to add depth to the whole script and enliven the character in the minds of the players.
2. Emphasizing on the non-verbal communication : Recording action lines for a video game project is a challenging job as the voice actors have to imagine themselves being a part of the action while performing the script. Coming up with sounds for actions like, summoning elements, gaining magical powers, or anything else requires experience. Professional voice over artists know that to provide credibility they have to use their bodily movements while voice acting, so the sounds seem convincing.
3. Having technical expertise : Having a wide emotional and tonal range is incredibly important for video game voice talents since they may be called on to play multiple characters throughout the game. If an actor voices two different characters and they sound too alike, it can confuse players and pull them out of the experience. Voice talents have to be able to make each character's voice distinct and give them each their own personality even for minor characters.
4. Using professional recording setup : While this applies to any kind of voice over project, pay extra attention when hiring voice actors for video games. Digitization and remote working has allowed many voice actors to work from their own environments by setting up professional home studios, and the seasoned artists have the equipment or the recording spaces to produce top-notch recordings. Try to listen to as many demos of the artists as possible before taking the plunge. Voyzapp is an online voice over marketplace where you can find thousands of demos of voice artists and hire the perfect voice for your Video Game.
5. Mastering the Cold read ability : Professional voice artists are able to improvise a voice when seeing the script for the first time. Video game productions move at a faster pace than most film and animation productions. This means that scripts can be rewritten all the way up until recording time, giving the voice talent little to no time to prep. Thus voice talents must have the ability to create a unique voice upon seeing the script.
6. Right Enunciation and Voice Clarity : Pronouncing and expressing words clearly is a vital Video game voice over skill. Sometimes, great voices are held back by insufficient vocal clarity. Therefore, check for clear and confident enunciation in the voice actor’s demos. If you expect your chosen voice actor or voice actors to slip into different characters, then they need to show off a wide vocal range. As this caliber of talent will make a huge difference to the success of your project, carefully review their profile to determine if they’re up to the job.
7. Using correct Regional Accents : It’s important to consider what regional accent and dialect the video game character or narrator should have. Each well-rounded character has a backstory. So make sure that a selected voice actor tells it as accurately and engagingly as possible. Whether you require polished English narration or high quality Hindi voice over services, accent variations hint about the character’s background and portray them as more realistic. So, think about your character’s roots and voice as impressively voiced characters with distinct accents will definitely leave a lasting impression on the players.
8. Having the appropriate Voice Style: It goes without saying that the voice actor’s style of speech should match that of the game and its characters. The video game character’s personality should go hand in hand with their voice. When it comes to video game narration, a clear and well articulated style is often preferred. While character speech can be slightly un-articulated to achieve a distinct feel and mood, the narration should be clear and consistent.

Today Video games are available in several exciting genres and subgenres. This is why it's important to have a professional voice over to create a vibrant world for your players. Sometimes, amateur voice actors may struggle to meet your deadlines. Therefore, a thorough assessment is imperative before hiring a voice actor because who you choose needs to create an engaging experience for your audience. Voyzapp is a leading voice over company in India, where you can hire the best-in-class voice talents easily and compare their costs to select the one that fits your budget!

Hyper-realistic graphics may have changed the gaming world, but their success heavily depends on talented voice actors who tell the stories within the game. In order to have a popular video game, you must design great characters that not only look interesting, but also sound interesting. The right voice over can connect to the large gaming audience, making your character highly memorable and unique. So what are you waiting for? Hire a talented video game voice actor to mesmerize your audience with the dramatic skills and bring out the intriguing flair of your story!

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