Voiceover Job Spotlight: Video Game Voice Overs

In the voice over industry, there are many types of jobs. You can be a voice over who only does book narrations, or you can go from doing the voice of a little boy in a movie to a villain in a video game. To show the diversity of all the different types of voice over jobs available to you, I would like to start highlighting a few on my blog. The first one is video game voice overs.

The Importance of Video Game Voiceovers

Playing video games have become a popular pastime for teens and adults. Approximately 65 percent of households in the United States play video games. There’s something about it that captures people’s attention, and while not many people realize it, it has a lot to do with voice overs.

Voice overs give video games meaning. As people are visually enthralled with what is happening on the screen, they want information about the storyline. While pictures are worth a million words, it’s just not as good as having a voice over tell you exactly what you should know, feel and think.

Not only are the words that deliver a message important in video game voiceovers, but also the tone and style. You’ll never hear a drab, lecture-like tone in a video game. What you’ll hear is something that falls in line with the theme of the story. If it’s a video game for girls who like princesses, you’ll hear delicate, feminine voice. If it’s a video game based on shooting, you may hear the voice of a man who is brave and ready for action. The tone and style of the voice over delivers a message, which turns into a thought, and then feelings. Those feelings are what tie people to video games and make them want to play them.

How to Find Work as a Video Game Voice Actor

The good news is that video game developers are always working on creating the next big game. With so many gaming systems available today, there is an endless number of games that can be developed. With that being said, the video game voice acting industry can be competitive. It is a specialized type of voice over work, so experience will get you far.

When you are just starting out, search the Internet for companies that are not as well-known as some of the big players such as Activision and Acclaim. There are some independent video game publishers as well, so you may want to check with forums they frequent. Social media is another great place to find people who work in video game publishing.

Once your portfolio includes video game voice over experience, you can start marketing your skills to larger companies. It takes time, but with patience and hard work, you can get into this industry.

Stay tuned to this blog for more information on other voice over niches you can specialize in to easily grow your business.