Recasting Life Is Strange: Video Game Voice Acting during the 2016–2017 SAG-AFTRA Strike
Description
Video game voice acting does not rank among the core roles of video game production, yet actors in leading roles sometimes achieve wide recognition despite their contingent employment. In this article, we explore the role of voice actors in the video game culture using the specific case of the recasting of the video game series Life Is Strange, which was caused by the 2016 to 2017 SAG-AFTRA strike against video game companies. Our qualitative empirical analysis of journalistic coverage (including interviews with voice actors), promotional materials, press releases, and player discussions reconstructs the events of the game’s production and investigates the reception of the recasting with regard to actor-character identification and to labor conditions of voice actors. We find that voice actors, whose status is partly dependent on the popularity of their characters, attempt to rise “above the line” by engaging in relational labor.
Show moreYear of publication
2020
Authors
Jan Švelch - Creator
Unknown organization
Jaroslav Švelch - Creator
figshare - Publisher
Other information
Fields of science
Media and communications
Language
English
Open access
Open