Baldur’s Great Acting Performances: Video Games Industry Memo, 18/01/2024
Voice and Performance Director Tilly Steele explains how Baldur’s Gate 3’s voice performances came to life
Tilly Steele from PitStop Productions explains the secrets to Baldur’s Gate 3’s tip top acting performances
Epic Games and Apple get brushed off by the US Supreme Court
Prince of the Persia: The Lost Crown becomes the first big release of 2024
A hearty “hello and hi” to VGIM-ers old and new this week.
Thank you to all of those who subscribed to the newsletter this week after reading my guest edition of The Guardian’s Pushing Buttons newsletter on Wednesday. You’ve helped the VGIM ranks swell to over 1000 readers and I am immensely grateful for it.
If you didn’t see it and do want to enjoy the irony of a man named George Osborn writing about politics in the country’s premier left-wing newspaper, make sure you give it a read here.
Otherwise, it is time for the latest VGIM. And this week’s edition is a lot more cheery than the last one, I promise.
Enjoy!
The big read - Baldur’s Great Voice Acting Performances
Baldur’s Gate 3 is a pretty darn good video game. It wasn’t just the subject of a squabble amongst VGIM readers over who got to write about it in our end of year great video games round-up (resolved amicably, I’d note); it won many awards that the creators of the game actually care about, such as the Game of the Year accolade at The Game Awards, following its release last summer.
There were plenty of reasons for its success. But one aspect of the game has been consistently celebrated across the board: the quality of its acting and voice performances.
For example, Neil Newbon, the voice actor responsible for bringing to life Astarion - a vampire with sexiness levels approaching, or dare I say exceeding, Spike in Buffy levels - was garlanded for his performance in the game at both the aforementioned Game Awards and The Golden Joysticks.
Members of the cast have also been longlisted in both the leading and supporting performer roles categories at the BAFTA Games Awards, which take place in April this year - providing a pretty strong sense of how bloody well acted it is.
So what lay behind these great performances? How did the studio manage to bring its cast of characters to life in such vivid and memorable fashion? And what tips can we pick up/shamelessly steal from the people responsible for such excellence?
I caught up with Tilly Steele, a voice and performance director who worked on Baldur’s Gate 3 via the alliteratively named PitStop Productions, to answer these questions (and some other ones I made up on the spot).
Steele-y determination
Tilly’s route into the world of performance directing in video games is as deliciously circuitous as most of our routes into the sector.
Tilly is an actor, who has popped up in TV shows such as Victoria, Ladhood and mother-flipping Dr Who and on stage in both theatre and comedy settings.
She’s also a regular with No Rolls Barred, which is described on its Wiki as ‘a YouTube channel and group of board game enthusiasts, actors, comedians and wrestling fans (!) who play board games together’.
Anyway, alongside these interests Tilly always had a place in her heart for video games - including one fantasy role-playing title in particular.
“I've always been a big gamer and big nerd since day one, thanks to my Dad,” Tilly said. “I played Baldur’s Gate 2 when I was younger and it was my favourite game.”
So when the pandemic struck, Tilly did two things an actor who likes video games does. First, she began to look for work.
The worlds of TV, comedy and theatre that she thrived in were knocked over sideways, forcing people within those sectors to look for opportunities to apply their skills (and pay the bills) elsewhere.
Second, and fatefully, she did something else: she bought a video game to keep her going. That game was Baldur’s Gate 3 which, despite releasing in full last year, was available in early access from October 2020.
“In fact, I bought a new PC to be able to play it in early access. That's how much of a legend I am,” Tilly stated in a manner that I simply can’t dispute.
This decision then led to one of those series of serendipitous circumstances that the games industry seems to specialise in producing, transforming Tilly from playing the game to shaping it as one of its voice and performance directors.
While knee-deep in its early access, she noticed that Jennifer English, a social media acquaintance, had started to post about performing in the game in the role of Shadowheart.
Tilly, naturally, was interested in what she was up to. The two of them chatted, and began to bond over, over Baldur’s Gate 3 at first. But as the pandemic waned, the friendship grew. And it was this friendship that led to Tilly meeting Beth Park, a Senior Voice Director working on the game, at a party.
Once introduced, the pair clicked as Tilly’s obvious passion and enthusiasm for the game (along with her incredibly relevant professional skills) came to the fore.
This eventually led to Tilly joining the team at PitStop Productions to support the project as a director - working on the game for a year before it finally launched in August 2023 launch.
All the world’s a game
So, what does the role of being a voice and performance director for a video game actually entail? The answer is pleasingly nuanced.
“It's very interesting, I think, in many ways,” Tilly said. “You're kind of a middleman whose job it is to translate the landscape and meaning behind gameplay, the environment of the world that the actors are in and turn that into a language that the actor can understand. You also have to create a space where the actor feels free to let their own imagination unfold in front of them.”
This is, in Tilly’s words, “incredibly challenging.” Partly, this is down to some broader issues facing performers when working on a product that is purely digital.
Unlike counterparts working on, say, a physical set with things like props, costumes or locations to draw upon, video game performers have to do a lot of heavy lifting in their own head to make performances work. Given that many games like Baldur’s Gate 3 offer players sprawling outcomes rather than a linear path, this can make hard work even harder if it isn’t steered properly.
But the job isn’t just about directing the performers as you’d reasonably guess it would be; it’s also to act as a liaison between the creative ambitions of the performers and what the developer is envisioning for the game they’re making. And if there’s a gap between those two parts of the project, things go awry quickly.
Tilly had an example of this from an audition process she went through for a role as a performer.
She had worked her way through the early stages of this particular process with a performance director, creating a version of the character who she was auditioning to play who had an accent with a lovely Yorkshire twang.
However, there was just one problem: the development team didn’t know about it. After performing at an audition in front of representatives of the developer, she quickly realised that what she had worked on with the director was not what the developer had expected or was looking for - leading to her role being recast without her being given the chance to offer them something else that they may have preferred instead.
Maintaining a strong relationship between developers and performers is therefore key to delivering great performances as a performance and voice director.
And while Tilly was unfortunate with what she experienced in that audition, the relationship between Larian, PitStop and the performers involved with the creation of Baldur’s Gate 3 proved to be pretty much perfect for delivering fantastic results.
Larian it on thick
Tilly said that one of the major reasons why the directors and the performers ended up thriving on the project was Larian’s willingness to trust the professionals to do their jobs well.
“With Larian, we were completely spoiled,” Tilly said. “From speaking to people who work for them, I feel like the ethos is very much ‘we hire talented people and then we let them go and be talented.’ People are given the initiative to be creative and if you want to do something, there's a very good chance that someone will say yes.”
Importantly, this philosophy was translated into practical action because of the project framework which sat around it.
As Tilly explained to me, Larian was able to benefit from world class performances from its cast because the directors had the time, team and culture around them to achieve it.
“We had a lot of time to get things right. And if something wasn't right, well we had the time to talk about it. There was such an atmosphere at PitStop of open collaboration between everyone. So, sometimes the writers from Larian would join. We always had a voice director and a performance director. We had our mocap engineers, we had our audio engineers…it really was always a team vibe.”
Within this, the performers felt free to unwind. Tilly said that she felt the actors could sense that there was freedom to perform in the ways they felt could be creative, engaging and fun - unlocking performances that helped bring the game to life.
Her experience of working with Neil Newbon on the game was a perfect example of this.
Tilly became an early entrant into the cult of Astarion while the game was in early access. And as she worked with Neil on the later parts of the game as a director, it became obvious to her that his approach was reflective of both his own personal qualities but also of the wider creative culture that sat at the heart of the project.
“I think Neil just encapsulates that,” Tilly said. “As an actor, and as a person, he is all about trying things. I can hear him in my head now going ‘I've got an idea, I've got an idea’. It's that playfulness, but also committing 100% to what it is that you're doing. And Neil always committed 100%; there was never a session with him, where I felt like he wasn't giving it everything that he had.”
It also, importantly, wasn’t a one way street either. Working with performers helped Tilly hone her craft too - creating a valuable reciprocal relationship that made achieving excellence surprisingly comfortable.
“Working with [Neil] him was one of the best bits of my experience. And I learned a lot from him; he was very gracious. And even though this was my first game that I worked on, he really listened to me and took on board what I was saying.”
The result of all these factors led to the creation of an environment where it just seemed to be fun to produce great work - with that productive entertainment translating into what appeared within the game.
The freedom afforded to the directors and performers by the way the project was managed by both Larian and PitStop allowed them to deliver great performances - bringing to life the dizzying array of choices available to players in a way that connected the community to both the game and the cast responsible for them.
Director to the point
So, how can you give your next project which involves performers the kind of polish that helped Baldur’s Gate 3 to stand out?
Tilly was keen to stress that every game is “very, very different”. While the approach taken by Larian was excellent and perfect for this project, games that have a contrasting vision or structure - such as a tightly narratively driven linear action game - may necessitate a different approach.
That said, Tilly had some general tips for getting the most out of your directors which included making sure you chat to them earlier in your project (rather than later).
“If you'd like to work with directors, get them on board as early as you can,” she says. “And even if you don't have the budget for that, I think opening those lines of communication just to get a vibe check is really important.”
This is useful for both setting the parameters of the project nice and early but also to give the developer and the director the best chance of working together constructively in the way they both want to.
“It’s really useful to sit down in person or over Zoom and be like ‘I'm a person, you're a person’ so you can ask questions like how can I help? What do you want to get out of it? And I think, being honest, it’s a chance to ask why you want to work with a director. Do you want one because you're nervous about working with actors, but actually, you want to direct the performances yourself? If so, say that to your director so there’s not a clash later.”
And what if you’re thinking about getting into directing? Even though Tilly’s route was perhaps one that was less well-trodden than others, she did have some practical recommendations for making the move.
“There are kind of two pathways…You can follow the audio production route, so you become an engineer and then an audio genius. Or if you're a performer, or from a performer background, then I think you can kind of follow the actor to director track.”
She also made an important point about thinking carefully about which types of games you personally care about to make sure everything lines up with your professional ambition.
“In both instances, I would say you've got to follow your passion and know what it is that you're really passionate about. I don't know that this experience would have happened for me if I didn't have that kind of fire lit in my belly about RPGs and specifically about Baldur’s Gate,” she said.
“You might love Call of Duty and you might want to go and work on it. Be honest about that, say that’s your passion and follow it. I don't think there's anyone in games who isn’t doing it for any other reason than because they love it. And I think you have to match that passion with passion.”
Tilly’s point is definitely useful advice for directors. But it’s also a strong summary of the industry’s culture overall and a handy shortcut into understanding the people - and performers - who bring virtual worlds and cities such as Baldur’s Gate to life.
News in brief
A bite out of Apple?: The Supreme Court has said “heck no” to the idea of staging a hearing regarding the anti-trust dispute between Epic Games and Apple. It’s a classic case of everyone losing, with Epic’s effort to broadly open up the App Store defeated and Apple forced begrudgingly to adjust “anti-steering policies” that prevented developers from circumventing its payment systems.
Ubi-not owning video games anymore: Ubisoft’s Director of Subscriptions Phillipe Tremblay has said that players need to get used to the idea of not owning games. Speaking of what to do with those video games you don’t want to own anymore…
Trade-ins off: UK video games retailer Game has said that it will stop allowing people to trade in pre-owned video games at its store by the end of this summer. RIP my hopes of getting a tenner in return for trading in 147 video games like I used to back in my teenage glory days…
Beating around the Bush: Financial Times columnist and Football Manager fan Stephen Bush has argued that the UK’s political class needs to learn to love growing parts of the economy like video games for what they are, rather than pine for the macho industrial glories of the past. Let’s all start the chant everybody: one of us, one of us, one of us…
Netflickering signs of life: Netflix has reported that year-on-year installs of games available to its subscribers leapt by 180%, possibly as a result of the inclusion of historic Grand Theft Auto games on the platform. It follows news last week that the business is considering other ways to monetise its games offer beyond providing it to existing Netflix subscribers as a perk.
On the move
Shuji Utsumi has been appointed SEGA’s CEO for America and Europe…Veronique Lallier is IO Interactive’s new Chief Development Officer…James Oates has been promoted to Studio Director at Sumo Sheffield...Louisa Keight, formerly of Ukie and forever of bullying me, has landed the role of Project Manager for the Playing for the Planet Alliance’s Green Game Jam…And Daniel Nye Griffiths is our job seeker of the week - hunting for a new Comms, Corp Comms or Marketing role having previously held similar positions at Bossa Studios, Canonical and Improbable…
Jobs, jobs, jobs
Video Games Europe is searching for a Communications Intern to join them in Brussels…The lovely people at Bastion have four roles going for a Biz Dev Exec, Events Manager and two Account Managers…There’s a Senior Game Designer gig going at Hutch Games…You can inflict Cocomelon video games on unsuspecting/despairing parents by becoming a Marketing Manager at Moonbug Entertainment…And Double Eleven needs a new Senior Producer to support its team and tuck into the occasional parmo…
Next week, and at the end of every month this year, VGIM will be running a special On the Move solely dedicated to highlighting job seekers hunting for their next role.
If you’d like to be included, email me at videogamesindustrymemo@substack.com with a summary of what you’re looking for and a link to a relevant profile or portfolio for my consideration.
Events and conferences
Pocket Gamer Connects (20% off link for VGIM readers), London - 22nd-23rd January
DICE Summit, Las Vegas - 13th-15th February
Guildford Games Festival, Guildford - 16th February
Game Developers Conference, San Francisco - 18th - 22nd March
London Games Festival, London - 9th-25th April
Games of the week
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown - Ubisoft’s first platforming entry in the Prince of Persia series in absolutely ages both mercifully breaks the release drought and is reportedly Quite Good.
The Last of Us Part II Remastered - PS5 optimised version of a game whose narrative was partly inspired by conflict between Israel and Palestine lands at a less than ideal time for Sony’s PR team.
Palworld - I only need three words to sell this game to you: Pokemon with miniguns.
Before you go…
It’s one small step for dogs but an even bigger leap for dogkind, after a Shiba Inu called Peanut Butter became the first ever canine video game speed runner as part of Awesome Games Done Quick.
I heard that he was on course to smash his owner’s record until he accidentally pressed the paws button.