There’s been a very vocal discussion as of late regarding who should have credit over video game performances. With voice actors not always necessarily doing the motion capture performances for some titles, there’s been a worry that talented motion capture artists are being left out when it comes to awards.
With Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 actor and Baldur’s Gate 3 motion performance director Aliona Baranova calling for a “motion capture category” at The Game Awards, BG3 actor Neil Newbon believes that the Best Performance category should instead of have “double-billing” for a voice actor and the motion actor when applicable.
The discussion comes following a statement from Expedition 33’s Gustave voice actor Charlie Cox who said that his nomination should go to Maxence Cazorla “who did almost all of the motion capture for that role in that game”. However, even long-time iconic gaming roles have seen the game dual-actor setup for over a decade. Famously, while Halo’s Master Chief is voiced by the iconic Steve Downes, his motion performance has been handled by Bruce Thomas.
In an interview with PCGamesN, Newbon argued that cutting motion capture into its own category is complicated and exclusionary when they should be promoted alongside the voices that gave the characters life as well. Newbon, who has been a motion capture actor for someone else’s voice work in the past, explained that it is a very complicated situation to solve.
“What I would say is I think Charlie [Cox] is awesome,” Newbon said. “I think Charlie is very humble, and I think it’s very cool that he’s focusing on Maxence. I like the idea of double-billing, personally. If you have a situation where people can argue that, yes, both people did such great work and that they both contributed to the performance, then why not just do double-billing?”
Newbon said he’d “love to see more of that” after sharing billing for the character of Nyx in Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XV: Kingsglaive. “I think double-billing is a good idea, because I think it really helps the actor.”
“Awards-wise, I don’t know,” he said. “It’s important to have best lead and best supporting. If you wanted ot do another one, I guess you could do a mocap award, but then you should make it more inclusive. What about the people that are relatively unsung: the ones that do creature work, the ones that do background art – where do you go from there? Honest answer? I’m not sure. Recognition is definitely valid, though.”
Newbon explained that “awards don’t make us actors”, saying that “there are dozens, if not hundreds, of actors in the gaming space that may not be recognised year-on-tear, but they are all valid, they are all authentic, and they’re all amazing.”
“Awards are very useful and they’re great to be highlighted with your peers in the industry, and it is a wonderful thing to have that recognition,” he continued. “It doesn’t make you the performer. You are the performer, and I think it’s really important to understand that.”
At the end of the day, it is a very complicated situation to solve, especially as celebrations like The Game Awards are largely not all that much to do with the awards themselves. Many categories at the annual show are sidelined, and it may feel even worse for best performance to get a huge ceremonial applause if mocap is then pushed a run-off award earlier on,
What is clear, though, is that the companies should do a better job at highlighting who is performing for a character. If a character is brought to life by two people, then they should both be credited for the performance of that character. That only seems fair.
