Though it was leaked ahead of time, the big reveal at today's Ubisoft Forward livestream was Far Cry 6, which has a narrative focused around a Fidel Castro-esque dictator named Anton Castillo and his son Diego. Anton is portrayed by Giancarlo Esposito, who talked about the process of starring in a motion capture-heavy video game in an interview published by Ubisoft following the event.
Esposito describes his character as driven by his ability to lead and create a better world for his people, even if that means manipulating his son into certain positions. Far Cry 6's father and son relationship is a deeply engrained part of the story, and Diego's actor Anthony Gonzalez talks about how preparing for the role was as much learning about the life and feelings of Anton because Diego has always been a part of his world.
One thing Esposito emphasizes is that he hopes players, "will take away that Anton is a human being. That he really has a wide spectrum of emotions we all feel, and that he's also conflicted." Gonzalez also feels the emotional complexity behind Diego is important in Far Cry 6, as he's always lived in his father's shadow, and players can try to help.
The interview published by Ubisoft also goes into the process of working on a mo-cap video game of this scale, also seen with the financially-successful PS4 exclusive The Last of Us 2. Much of the b-roll in the video shows Esposito and Gonzalez in full suits complete with cameras and markers to record scenes, and Esposito said, "what I wasn't ready for was ... the idea that there was nothing else to support me, and getting over the idea of how goofy I looked."
Gonzalez said it took time to get used to wearing the motion capture gear and working in a restricted space. For Esposito, who is primarily a screen actor famous for shows like Breaking Bad and recently appearing as Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian, this appears to have been especially true.
However, Esposito also talks about how fascinating the process of game design is, particularly seeing the months-long effort of translating his and Gonzalez's performances into digital face and character models. Screenshots of Far Cry 6 released by Ubisoft suggest it will be a beautiful game, so fans of the series can look forward to seeing the actors' work in the final product too.
Far Cry 6 will launch February 18, 2021, for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.