Ever since Giancarlo Esposito announced that he would be acting in a major video game project, fans speculated that the performer, who came to fame playing one of Breaking Bad’s most iconic villains, Gustavo Fring, would be playing the villain Anton Castillo in Ubisoft's upcoming Far Cry 6.
With the Far Cry 6 trailer confirming those rumors, Ubisoft’s first-person shooter franchise may just prove to be a powerhouse for video game acting performances, showing the changing tide of attitudes towards video game acting, the level of prestige it can bring, and the caliber of star it is able to attract. With more and more actors moving from films and television to video games, the Far Cry 6 trailer demonstrates how important acting has become to video games, and which developers are taking the lead.
Far Cry's Villainous Performances
Far Cry is a series known for its strong villainous performances. Michael Mando’s performance as Vaas in Far Cry 3 was so iconic even among the developers that the character became the focus of the game’s marketing, with Mando even playing the role in a live-action web-series promoting the game.
His performance set several precedents which changed the role of actors in the world of video games. Mando’s performance as Vaas shaped the future of the Far Cry series, with the promotion and story-line of every Far Cry game since focusing on a single, charismatic villain to motivate the plot.
This industry trend continued with more and more famous actors not only appearing in games through their vocal performances, but via their motion-captured likenesses. Far Cry was not the first series to have a famous actor in a leading role, with Sean Bean and Patrick Stewart starring in Oblivion in 2006, but when it comes to the increasingly central role of key performances in both game plots and marketing, Ubisoft can take the lion's share of the credit.
The trend is taking over Triple-A releases, with one of this year’s most anticipated games, Cyberpunk 2077, starring Keanu Reeves in a leading role. The reason that Esposito, known for playing a villain, was rumored to be attached to the next Far Cry game as soon as he announced his involvement in a video game project is because Far Cry has become the industry trendsetter for these kind of performances.
The Impact on the Industry
The Far Cry 6 trailer is a masterwork of cinematography, animation, and acting. Of course, as a trailer, it does not actually show the impact that such great performances have on the experience of playing the game itself, though many can expect Esposito to bring a similarly strong performance to the main game and the intense father-son relationship depicted in the Far Cry 6 trailer.
What the Far Cry 6 trailer demonstrated most clearly, however, is a shifting attitude towards video game performances as both motion capture technology becomes more advanced, and the video game industry has more and more examples of prestige and award-winning performances to draw in talent from more traditional acting pools. It isn’t only the stars who are seeing the consequences of this shift. Roger Clark, who provided the voice and motion capture for Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2 won the 2018 Game Award for Best Performance, and the voice actors from Red Dead 2 have gained enough of a following themselves to be able to run their own charity streams playing the game.
Other video game actors are slowly becoming household names as a result of this trend, in particular Troy Baker who not only played the villain Pagan Min in Far Cry 4 but also provided the voice and mo-cap for Joel in The Last of Us along with several other credits. Other voices like Nolan North (Drake in Uncharted) and Jennifer Hale (female Shepherd in Mass Effect) have also gained strong reputations for their range of performances in the industry.
The Future of Video Game Acting
The performance of the antagonist in games like Far Cry is particularly vital to the success of the story, and Far Cry 6 has a lot to learn from its predecessors. Since the player is not given control of the dialog options of the player character, the performance of the villain has to be strong enough that the player is compelled to enact the motives of that character instead of finding their own as players might in an RPG. This has been achieved so far by making players love to hate the villain through the strength of the actor's performance.
Some fans already anticipate that a talent like Esposito's could help make Far Cry 6's antagonist their best villain yet. Ultimately, however, it remains to be seen whether or not Far Cry 6 will help to bring video game performances into the mainstream or if it is bringing mainstream and recognizable talent into video game acting at the expense of performers who have dedicated themselves to the industry without gaining mainstream notoriety.
What is certain is that a shift is taking place, and it is likely that video games will be providing more and more acting opportunities with an increasing level of prestige and notoriety than ever before for whoever is able to seize the opportunity. As more critics begin to consider gaming a potential medium for meaningful artistic expression, an increasing number of artists may find that the best available work lies in great video game acting, and in turn, more video game developers will find the success of their narratives hinging on the strength of those performances. What remains to be seen is whether this trend will change games for the better, or worse.
Far Cry 6 launches February 18, 2021 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X versions also in development.