How to Get Into Video Game Voice Acting: The Ultimate Guide

Voice acting for video games is the emerging profession suitable for passionate individuals interested in making their mark in the industry.  Being in the studio daily, earning a tonne of money while voicing characters in an interesting career opportunity worth exploring. A voice actor can pursue a variety of career paths. You can learn voice acting, enrol in voice acting programs, or use your skills and creativity to become a successful voice actor.

You could be able to make a profession out of voice acting if you have great voice clarity, exceptional enunciation, and natural articulation. Additionally, it is crucial to invest in your vocal training because it will improve your abilities. This can assist you in enhancing your performance and raising your likelihood of being recruited as a voice actor in the future!

In this guide, we have detailed everything you need to know to get into video game voice acting.

How can you Make it into the video game voice-acting industry?

First of all, your primary goal should be to develop into a skilled and adaptable actor. There is no one way to break into voice acting, although some of the most well-known and productive voices in the video game industry began as dedicated actors who spent their time perfecting their craft in other mediums, whether it be on stage, in commercials, on TV, or in movies.

Working as an actor will teach you how to swiftly digest scripts, develop characters, make daring decisions, and take direction regardless of what sector you’re in. Many casting directors for voice overs are constantly on the lookout for compelling voices in all forms of acting. You will benefit from having experience with the everyday grind of finding and booking gigs.

Tips to Become a Voice Actor in Video Games

In order to become a voice actor for video games or to do professional voice over for video games, follow these steps:

1. Learn Acting

Although singing is not necessary, professional training can improve your voice intuition and skills. Video game production moves quickly since the scripts are lengthy, there is little time for planning, and cold reading is frequent. You can shift the game for yourself by developing your scene study, improv, and vocal technique skills. Additionally useful materials include voice acting books and YouTube videos.

2. Develop Your Skills Through Practising

Read aloud frequently from novels, plays, screenplays, and other written works. This is something you should record, then play back to see what works and what doesn’t. Practice impersonations as well as various vocal timbres, attitudes, and styles.

3. Make a Powerful Audio Demo

Casting directors agree that having a strong voice acting demo is essential to getting jobs whenever you feel ready to put yourself out there for auditions.

4. Play Video games, Observe or Hear Playthroughs

What do your favourite voice actors in video games do to make them so compelling? Pay attention to the sounds that performers use to portray fighting and action-scene situations, such as when their characters are attacking, yelling, being punched, etc. Such voiceover work is commonly used in video games for dialogue between characters, cinematic cut sequences, and action and fight scenes. Take note of the various methods voice actors use in different scenarios and games.  It can help you gain an edge in the competitive video game voice acting industry, especially as a beginner.

5. Find a Trustworthy, Qualified Vocal Coach

Look for a voice coach who is experienced in the field and unapologetic about pointing out your shortcomings. You should learn everything from character creation to voice and emotional expression from them. A competent coach will help you prepare for auditions and voiceover auditions, help you find work, and teach you effective marketing techniques.

6. Look for a Voice-Over Artist

With some direction and knowledge of some reliable sources, you should hire a dependable and high-quality voice-over artist.

Popular Voice Acting Roles in Video Games

1. Narrators

The narrator in a video game can take on a variety of forms, such as being the protagonist or not appearing at all. The protagonist or another character who informs the players of the game’s plot and tale as they advance through it can serve as the main narrator.

However, a character that isn’t directly involved in the game is known as an absent narrator. One who develops a lens to examine the game’s narrative could be a mysterious entity.

Since their dialogue enables game designers to link essential elements of the game to the plot, such as new characters, antagonists, places, etc., narrators are key in adventure games and role-playing games. Voice acting games offer narrators a great platform to showcase and master their skills.

2. Main Character

In a normal video game, the player takes control of one of the main characters. These major characters serve as the users’ avatars and converse with them when they use the game’s features. Each game’s protagonist is given words and sounds by voice actors, who use their video game acting prowess to convey emotion and strengthen the player’s emotional connection to the narrative.

3. Protagonist

The protagonist of a video game is an exciting role for voice actors. The majority of the time is typically spent by video game designers creating strong characters. The entire procedure is taken very seriously, starting with choosing the character’s appearance and ending with their full background.

You must fully comprehend the character sketch if you’re voicing a protagonist because your character will be the centre of attention. You can develop the protagonist’s personality with the use of this knowledge. Your performance has the power to improve the entire gaming experience by elevating the character and making them truly iconic and memorable.

Have fun with it and make something great because you also get to become something you probably never imagined, like a cunning superhero or a daring pirate.

4. Antagonist

If you were the voice of a video game villain, your plans might have included stealing a tonne of donuts or enslaving everyone, switching from one evil scheme to another as you progressed through the game’s levels. Similar to the protagonist, you have a rich design and past, but unlike the protagonist, you don’t save the world or preserve the game’s primary plot; instead, you only show up in “boss stages” or during particular game conditions. Most video game antagonists have aggressive, domineering, and evil voiceover personalities. Although not always the case.

Top 5 Genres of Video Games

Five of the most well-liked gaming genres are listed below :

1. Adventure Games

The most traditional hero tale games are adventure games. By avoiding a lot of conflict or confrontation, these distinguish out from other genres of analogous video games. As an alternative, you must investigate and discover the environment’s and the overall story’s mysteries. At some point, you’ll almost surely have to fight, but the more crucial fights frequently need you to solve puzzles first.

2. RPG Games

Role-playing games, which are arguably the most popular video game genre, are still incredibly popular. They place you in the position of the protagonist by drawing inspiration from classical tabletop RPGs. From then, you must explore the world, finish quests, gather objects, craft them, upgrade them, construct them, engage in combat, and finish one or more plot threads. The levelling system through experience points and the decision-making elements are fundamental to RPG games. 

3. Puzzle Video Games

There is a case to be made that a lot of video game genres are truly puzzle games. We’ll define puzzle games as those that adopt the puzzle aesthetic for this list of video game genres. The puzzle will reset if you fail, so you must figure out how to move a fixed board or inside a setting to get to the conclusion. People who prefer an intellectual challenge over one that relies on their gaming skills frequently play puzzle games.

4. Action Games

Over the past few years, the most played video game genres have included action, robot, and shooter games. Action must be one of the most varied game genres out there. You direct the action in these kinds of video games, and you frequently face physical or reactive challenges. In a fighting game, you could have to overcome your opponent; in an airport, you could be required to shoot your way out; in a crypt, you could be required to sneak about; or you could be required to speed run across a side-scrolling screen filled with enemies.

5. Medieval Games

A Mediaeval theme and all of its associated settings are extensively emphasized in some of the most popular video game genres. This is true with medieval games, which allow you to experience life in the era of swords, shields, horseback archery, and field combat. Medieval games are always very popular because they often feature castles and even some fantasy elements.

Conclusion

Being a voice actor for video games isn’t always fun and games; the work can be demanding and quite competitive.

We hope this voice over guide has provided you with a wealth of useful knowledge and suggestions on how to break into the voice-acting industry. With the help of the right equipment, instruction, and passion for the work, you can build a rewarding career in the voice acting industry and become a voice over artist in India.