Starfield and Baldur's Gate 3 actors say their games are "easily" better-written than many TV shows and films they've worked on
Lae'zel actor Devora Wilde compares the small screen to video games
Actors from Starfield and Baldur's Gate 3 have said their games "easily" have better writing than some television shows and films they've worked on.
Devora Wilde - the voice and performance capture artist behind Baldur's Gate 3's Lae'zel - recently appeared on the cooking show The Geek Recipes, where she discussed her transition from the silver screen into the world of video games. (Good spot, PC Gamer.)
When asked about whether games can match the production values or grandiosity seen in films, Wilde says the industry is "definitely getting there" if it hasn't already. "I would say that Baldur's Gate 3 is definitely for me as good, if not miles better, than any film or TV show I've done."
Wilde continues to call her fan-favorite character "so fleshed out, so real," and says the fact that players spend so much time with Lae'zel - over the game's lengthy runtime and the years of early access - is a major reason why "so many people have connected because they’ve felt like real characters you go on this journey with."
Screen time alone isn't the only advantage that game characters have over other mediums, though, as Wilde also points to her small supporting role in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty as another example: "Even that was such an emotionally charged character, only present for a few minutes—but she has a whole story and a whole life behind her."
Starfield and Deus Ex's Elia Toufexis also jumped into the discussion on social media to praise the games he's been involved with. "More than half of the games I work on, both as an actor and director, are better written than a lot of TV I work on," he tweets. "Easily."
As video games increasingly rely on talented actors to deliver their scripts, the issue of AI voiceover has also become more and more heated. Video game actors from across the industry recently slammed the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) union for its agreement with an AI voice company, despite going on strike for Hollywood talent a few months prior.
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Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.