Hiring a Voice Actor for Your Video Game: A Guide for Indie and Small Game Developers

Adding voice acting to your game is one of the best ways to bring your characters to life. A memorable performance can make players laugh, cry, hate a villain, or fall in love with a hero. Whether you're making your first indie game or leading a small studio, hiring the right voice actor can elevate your project far beyond what text alone can accomplish.

As someone who has voiced characters in games including Dune: Spice Wars, Northgard, AFK Arena, Battle Bears Heroes, and many more, I've worked with everyone from solo developers to established studios. (Hear my demos here.) Here are some tips to help make the casting and recording process as smooth and successful as possible.

Know What Kind of Session You Need

One of the first decisions you'll make is whether your actors will record independently or participate in a live directed session.

Remote Recording

Most indie projects use remote recording. In this setup, the actor records from their professional home studio, edits the files if requested, and delivers the finished recordings. This option is typically the most affordable because scheduling is simple and everyone works independently.

Remote recording also gives actors the flexibility to record multiple takes and deliver polished performances without requiring your team to be present.

Directed Sessions

Some projects benefit from live direction using platforms like Source-Connect, Zoom, Discord, or similar services. During a directed session, you'll be able to give immediate feedback, adjust performances, experiment with line reads, and answer questions in real time.

Because directed sessions require scheduling multiple people, reserving studio time, and dedicating a block of time exclusively to your project, they generally cost more than standard remote recording. If your game features emotionally complex scenes, cinematic storytelling, or a large cast interacting with one another, the additional investment can be worthwhile.

Respect the Audition Process

Most professional voice actors are happy to provide a short custom audition at no charge.

A good free audition is usually just a few representative character lines. This gives you enough material to evaluate the actor's voice and acting ability without requiring a significant amount of unpaid work.

If you're asking actors to perform lengthy scenes, multiple characters, extensive emotional variations, or dozens of lines, consider offering a paid audition instead. Preparing and recording an in-depth audition takes time and professional expertise, and compensating actors for larger requests demonstrates respect for their work.

Hire the Best Performance You Can Afford

It can be tempting to hire the least expensive actor you can find, especially on a tight budget. Sometimes you'll discover an amazing newcomer, but there are tradeoffs worth considering.

Experienced professional voice actors have spent years developing acting skills, learning microphone technique, understanding game scripts, and building efficient recording workflows. They often require less direction, deliver more consistent performances, and produce usable recordings more quickly.

Newer actors may absolutely have talent, but they may need additional coaching, more retakes, or extra editing before the recordings are ready for implementation. Depending on your schedule, the money saved upfront can sometimes be offset by additional production time later.

Professional Equipment Matters

Even the best acting performance can be undermined by poor audio quality.

Professional voice actors invest in broadcast-quality microphones, audio interfaces, acoustically treated recording spaces, and industry-standard editing software. This helps ensure recordings are clean, consistent, and free from distracting room echo, background noise, computer fans, or environmental sounds.

Poor audio can be difficult or impossible to repair in post production. Starting with clean recordings saves your sound team time and often produces a much more polished final game.

Provide Great Reference Material

The better your actors understand your characters, the better they'll perform.

Whenever possible, provide:

• Character artwork

• Character age and personality

• Story background

• Emotional context for each scene

• Pronunciation guides for fictional names

• A clear, finalized script

• Comparisons to well-known characters, games, films, or performances

For example, telling an actor a character is "confident but emotionally guarded, somewhere between Commander Shepard and Aloy" communicates far more than simply writing "strong female lead."

Visual references are especially helpful because they allow actors to immediately understand the tone, style, and personality you're aiming for.

Decide on Audio Delivery Before Recording Begins

If you're working with a sound designer or audio engineer, ask them what they need before hiring your actors.

Some teams want raw files, which are clean recordings with no processing beyond basic editing.

Others prefer mastered files, which may include equalization, compression, normalization, and other processing.

You'll also want to confirm technical specifications such as:

• WAV or MP3

• Sample rate

• Bit depth

• Mono or stereo

• File naming conventions

• One file per line or grouped recordings

Answering these questions before recording begins can prevent hours of unnecessary editing or file conversion later.

Where Should You Find Voice Actors?

There are several ways to cast voice talent.

Freelancer marketplaces can be a great option for indie developers because they make it easy to browse portfolios and compare pricing. Keep in mind that these platforms typically charge service fees in addition to the actor's rate.

Pay-to-play casting websites are another popular option. These sites allow you to post auditions and receive submissions from professional voice actors, but they also charge membership or platform fees, and many actors factor those costs into their pricing.

You can also hire voice actors directly through their personal websites. Working directly often allows for clearer communication and avoids many of the additional platform fees associated with third-party marketplaces.

Good Preparation Saves Everyone Time

Before posting your casting call, make sure you have:

• Final or nearly final scripts

• Character descriptions

• Visual references

• Recording specifications

• Budget expectations

• Timeline

• Pronunciation notes

The more information you provide upfront, the faster actors can deliver performances that fit your vision.

Final Thoughts

Voice acting is one of the most memorable parts of a player's experience. While it can be tempting to focus only on finding the lowest price, investing in skilled performers and providing them with the information they need almost always results in a smoother production and a stronger final game.

Whether you're creating your very first indie title or launching the next big RPG, good communication, thoughtful preparation, and professional talent can make your characters feel authentic long after players put down the controller.

Contact me

Feel free to reach out to me for an audition sample, or info about rates. I can also recommend male voice actors and child voice actors for your video game project.

kitty@kittyjayvoice.com