(Bloomberg) — A pay dispute between the creator of a critically acclaimed video game series and its star voice actor has reignited a long-running debate over salaries in the industry. As is often the case with these kinds of disagreements, the details surrounding the negotiations and casting for the next game, Bayonetta 3, are more complicated than has been publicly portrayed.
The feud came to light over the weekend, when Hellena Taylor, the star of the first two Bayonetta games, said she wouldn’t appear in the next iteration, which is slated for Nintendo Switch on October 28. She posted a series of videos on Saturday on Twitter, accusing Nintendo Co. and the game’s developer, Platinum Games, of offering her a total of $4,000 to reprise her role. She said she rejected the lowball offer and asked fans to refrain from buying the game. “If you’re someone who cares about people, who cares about the world around you, who cares who gets hurt by these financial decisions, so I urge you to boycott this game,” Taylor said in one of the videos.
The videos went viral, racking up over 9.5 million views on Twitter. Taylor’s story struck a chord with players. The voice actors are beloved by fans but fail to command anywhere near what a Hollywood actor does. The players in the game have long complained of being underpaid and underappreciated. Some said they received little information about their roles until they showed up at the recording booth. The industry operates so underground that actors sometimes won’t even know what game they’re recording lines for until it’s released.
Tensions last peaked during contract negotiations in 2016 when the union representing many voice actors, the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, orchestrated a strike that lasted nearly one year. One of the sticking points was the residuals, that is, the actors’ compensation when a game’s sales exceed expectations. The voice actors gave up this fight in exchange for receiving bonuses based on the number of sessions they work.
In the case of Bayonetta 3, the developer seemed determined to rehire Taylor, according to two people familiar with the negotiations as well as documentation reviewed by Bloomberg. Here’s where their accounts differ: Platinum Games sought to hire Taylor for at least five sessions, each paying $3,000 to $4,000 for four hours in the studio, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they don’t are not allowed to discuss private contract negotiations. That would make at least $15,000 for the game’s total. In response, they said, Taylor demanded a six-figure sum plus residuals on the game. auditions for a new actor. Platinum then offered Taylor an in-game appearance for the price of a session, which she declined, the people said.
In an email, Taylor described the account as “an absolute lie” and said Platinum was “trying to save their ass and the game.” She said she stands by everything she said in the video. “I would like to put all this damn frankness behind me, frankly to continue my life in the theater”, she wrote. Representatives for Platinum Games and Nintendo did not respond to requests for comment. Hideki Kamiya, the executive director of Bayonetta 3, called Taylor’s allegations “sad and deplorable” in a Twitter post.
Either way, Taylor’s comments resonated widely, dominating headlines on gaming websites and even gracing TMZ’s digital pages. Several of Taylor’s peers spoke out after her videos. Bryan Dechart, who starred in Cyberpunk 2077 and Red Dead Redemption II, said he was offered $4,000 to work on a non-union project for a big-budget game. Sean Chiplock, who voiced three characters in Nintendo blockbuster The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, said he was paid around $3,000 for the job.
The Bayonetta series is beloved by fans and critics but was never a major commercial success. The Nintendo Switch version of Bayonetta 2, released in 2018, sold just over a million copies, far less than most of Nintendo’s other offerings. For Bayonetta 3, acting costs were higher than for other projects because the studio relied on union artists, three people familiar with the game’s production said, which meant a minimum of around $900. for a four-hour vocal session plus bonuses. Prominent actors or franchise stars like Taylor usually earn more.
In her videos, Taylor mentioned Jennifer Hale, the prolific voice actress who took over the role of Bayonetta in the new game. “I wish her all the joy in the world, I wish her all the jobs, but she has no right to say she’s the voice of Bayonetta,” Taylor said. “I created this voice. She is not allowed to sign merchandise under the Bayonetta name.
As a result, Hale faced vicious online harassment. She wrote on Twitter on Monday that she had signed a nondisclosure agreement and could not elaborate on the situation. “I sincerely ask everyone to keep in mind that this game was created by a whole team of dedicated and hardworking people, and I hope everyone will keep an eye out for what they have created” , she wrote. Hours later, she retweeted a Twitter feed from another voice actor saying, “If you only hear one side (or part of a side) of a story, you haven’t heard the whole story. ‘story.”
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