[2022] How much more would they have had to pay for a fully voiced game?

Original Post — Direct link

Just a thought I had on my mind. I finished Kingmaker last month and Wrath just now and absolutely loved both games. By far my favourite scenes were the voiced ones, Nocticula, Areelu, Iomede - simply amazing and generally, I just enjoyed the game more when it was voice acted. I'm just wondering how unfeasble it is to fully voice a game like this?

I haven't really looked it up but I imagine there is just too much dialogue to be done with their budget? Divinity 2 and Pillairs 2 did it but from what I recall they had more budget/less dialogue? I suppose one of the reasons the game is so great and so deep is because instead of wasting a ton of money on voice they spent it on other places. Anyways I'm just greatful these games exsist. Looking forward to the next Owlcat Games title.

External link →

almost 2 years ago - /u/OwlcatStarrok - Direct link

Originally posted by HexedHexley

Voice acting gets ridiculously expensive. Lets say we ignore hourly wages and say they pay VAs a ridiculously paltry fee of $0.50 per recorded line. How many lines are there in the game? Easily half a million at the very least. So thats $250,000 with our unrealisticly low pay level. Not to mention for a fully VA'd game you would need to even voice all the minor characters that exist only for like a single quest. Getting a VA to do another character/voice may make contract negotiations more expensive.
Full voice acting leads to rapidly ballooning costs. Balloon the budget and you will not make a profit.

~two millions :)

almost 2 years ago - /u/OwlcatStarrok - Direct link

Extremely expensive, not only in money, but also in time invested. Plus this puts a high toll on narrative department because once something has been voiced, you can no longer polish the text. Or you have to go and pay for records again.

almost 2 years ago - /u/OwlcatStarrok - Direct link

Originally posted by Ok-Huckleberry-2585

That is insanely expensive. For two million you can literally double the content the base game had or hell, even make another game. I understand now. Thank you!

I meant two million lines of text rather than half a million lines mentioned above in this case. It's quite likely that a full VO would cost even more than that total though.

Recent Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous Posts

2 days ago - /u/OwlcatStarrok

2 days ago - tired_darkspawn

9 days ago - /u/OwlcatStarrok

9 days ago - Necessary

Recent Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous Posts

Last week, we shared a story about how characters in the Pathfinder video games series find their own voices. And today we're learning even more - from Tom Wayland, sound director and voice actor!

Finding Your Voice, part II

How do characters in Owlcat Games gain their own voices? Don't worry, no deals with underwater witches will be required - just hard work, talent and the work of a team of sound designers. Find out all the details in our article!

Finding Your Voice, part I