Bayonetta actor sparks debate about pay for video game performers after ‘insulting’ offer | CBC Radio

Gamers around the world had been hotly anticipating the release of Bayonetta 3, the latest in a series of stylish action games, on the Nintendo Switch.

But the release has become mired in controversy after the actor who voiced the main character in previous instalments instead called on fans to boycott it.

On Oct. 15, British actor Hellena Taylor posted a series of videos on her Twitter account, saying that developer Platinum Games offered her $4,000 US to reprise her role for Bayonetta 3. She described the offer as “an insult.”

She then called on gamers to boycott the game, and instead donate to charity. The videos have been viewed more than 9.7 million times on Twitter.

“I didn’t want the world, I didn’t ask for too much. I was just asking for a decent, dignified, living wage. What they did was legal, but it was immoral,” Taylor said, adding that she was breaking a non-disclosure agreement to speak out online.

The ensuing fallout has also resurrected arguments that voice actors for video games and animation are often paid far less than their TV and film counterparts — arguments that erupted during a nearly year-long strike that began in 2016.

Differing accounts

Platinum Games co-founder Hideki Kamiya did not directly address Taylor’s allegations, but tweeted: “Sad and deplorable about the attitude of untruth” later that day.

Kamiya, who can be notoriously quick to anger on Twitter, temporarily shut down his account after blocking scores of fans voicing their support for Taylor. 

On Tuesday, a report from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier offered a different account. It cited unnamed sources familiar with the negotiations, who claimed Platinum Games offered Taylor between $3,000 and $4,000 US per recording session for Bayonetta 3, for a total of about $15,000.

That’s about triple or more the standard minimum payment per recording for a video game performer, according to the SAG-AFTRA union’s rate sheet.

The Bloomberg report said Taylor rejected that offer, asking for a six-figure salary as well as residuals from the game’s sales, after which negotiations broke down.

In an email to Bloomberg, Taylor called this account “an absolute lie.”

With Taylor out, Canadian voice actor Jennifer Hale is voicing Bayonetta in the upcoming game. CBC reached out to Nintendo of Canada, Platinum Games and Taylor for comment. None have responded. CBC also reached out to Hale and SAG-AFTRA, and both declined to comment.

Fans conflicted

Woolie Madden, a Montreal-based video games streamer and podcast host, says Taylor’s performance as Bayonetta was as important as any leading actor in a television show or film.

“It’s one of the primary factors that brought that character to life and made them as beloved as they are among the fans. So it’s about as important as you could get,” he said.

But Madden, a self-described “massive fan” of the Bayonetta games, says the past week’s controversy, with its evolving and conflicting stories, has been “incredibly confusing.” 

“It also wouldn’t have been the first time that voice actors in the video game industry have been underpaid or undercut, or sort of treated [as] disposable,” he said.

Several years ago, David Hayter found himself in a similar situation.

The Canadian actor and screenwriter voiced the main character Snake in the Metal Gear Solid series since 1998. But 2015’s Metal Gear Solid 5 featured Kiefer Sutherland as Snake’s English voice instead.

The decision angered many Western fans, who identified Snake with Hayter’s gravelly voice.

“It was extremely disappointing. And I don’t think it was handled with the respect that I felt I’d earned at that point,” Hayter said of the situation.

“But at the same time, I work in the movie business, and franchises move on. People make different decisions. Actors get replaced. It happens.”

Hayter has said he bears no ill will toward Sutherland for taking the job, and similarly tweeted that fans should not direct ire at Hale for taking the Bayonetta role.

Turmoil on Twitter

Fans and observers online have expressed anger at Platinum Games, Kamiya and even Hale.

Some gamers posted screenshots of their cancelled pre-orders for the game. But after the Bloomberg report introduced an alternate account, others accused Taylor of lying.

Hale said on Twitter that due to a non-disclosure agreement, she can’t comment directly on the situation, but called on “everyone involved” to “resolve their differences in an amicable and respectful way.”

Platinum Games broke their silence on Thursday night, thanking “everyone who has contributed” and offering its support to “Jennifer Hale as the new Bayonetta” on Twitter.

“We ask people to please refrain from any further comments that would disrespect Jennifer or any other contributor to the series,” it continued. The statement did not name Taylor.

Fight for more pay, residuals

Taylor’s videos have renewed discussions about how much voiceover work pays in games and animation.

“There is this misconception that voice actors are like celebrities and we get paid, you know, just oodles of money. And the reality is we don’t, and we never really have,” said veteran voice actor Ben Diskin.

“The average voice actor is just kind of … living paycheque to paycheque and, you know, doing what they can to get by.”

He noted that it’s “absolutely reasonable” for long-running voice actors in leading roles to request or negotiate for more than union-standard pay. Those negotiations usually aren’t made public.

Voiceover work for video games does not typically offer residuals or royalties, as TV or films usually do.

Some actors corroborated this with their own accounts on social media. 

Sean Chiplock said he was paid between $2,000 and $3,000 US for voicing a supporting character in Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which to date has sold more than 27 million copies.

“My two off-screen lines in [the film] Detective Pikachu have made me more than all of [Breath of the Wild] did,” he noted.

In 2016, voice actors in the SAG-AFTRA union went on strike against several major video game companies, asking for better pay, including residuals on a game’s sales, as well as other workplace protections.

When it ended, the union had secured several protections, as well as extra payments for additional recording sessions. But residual payments tied to sales remained off the table.

“There is just a concrete wall up in the industry to prevent that from happening,” said Hayter.

Industry watchers have speculated that games companies are hesitant to pay actors residuals because if they did, then game developers could argue for them as well.

“It would be wonderful if everybody — the programmers, the animators, everybody who works on these games — got just a little, teeny-tiny fraction of a percentage of those sales to kind of help them get by in this life,” said Diskin.

Buy or boycott?

When Taylor made her bombshell statement, Madden said he considered boycotting Bayonetta 3. But he’s less sure that’s the best response he can make as a fan since new and conflicting accounts have complicated the narrative.

He says he will probably play the game, which he’s been anticipating since it was announced nearly five years ago. But he’s not opposed to those who choose not to buy it, either.

“I think that the most important thing is … to not just pretend that the problem doesn’t exist,” he said.

“You don’t have to necessarily vilify each other over those decisions, but certainly don’t pretend that issues that might exist don’t exist.”