The 7 Deadly Sins Of Game Voiceovers
- Alexander Brandon
- May 19
- 2 min read
Updated: May 20
Hi, I’m Alexander Brandon, and I’ve been voice acting in video games for decades, including Skyrim, DC Universe Online, Hearthstone, and Lord Of The Rings online. Here are my 7 deadly sins for voiceovers in games.
One - Too much VO
Not every line of text in your game must be read. Consider carefully where a voice would actually add value over text before adding it to the pile.
Two - Failing to budget
People often only consider voiceover needs at the last minute, and this can put a strain on a project’s budget - resulting in the cheapest, quickest outsourcing, with results you won’t be happy with.
Three - No table reads
Table reads are vital to ensure that written dialogue sounds plausible when spoken out loud - leave this out, and you’ll have a few surprises waiting for you at the session, or during implementation.
Four - Not enough casting information
You need age range, voice type, motivation, a short backstory, sample lines of varied length and type, and references for an actor to truly send a good audition.
Five - No integration tech
Manually integrating thousands of lines of dialogue into a game can take weeks. Save this time with a file naming convention that informs an automated tool for integration.
Six - No script format
Screenplay format? Spreadsheet? CSV in-engine? Make sure when scripts are written they are consistent for different needs, from the actor reading them to the writers to the game engine.
Seven - Lack of mixing
Voices can be drowned out by sounds and music. But sometimes sounds or music DO need to take priority. Work closely with audio and narrative to determine what choices to make.
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