Matt Ryan, the performer behind Edward Kenway in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced (and of course the original 2013 version of the game) has said during an interview with PCGamer that he considers the term ‘voice actor’ outdated in today’s market, where performance capture is widely used to bring to life characters on screen.
Ryan didn’t know he was going to be taking part on mo-cap for his performance of the swashbuckling assassin, and went on to praise Troy Baker’s performance of Indiana Jones as “fucking awesome” and an example of just how sophisticated performance capture has become.
When I got the job, I didn’t know it was going to be mocap—I thought it would just be voice. But I loved that it was mocap. I found another medium to work in: I love theater, and I love doing TV, but I like to change it up as well.
I think in terms of the vernacular that the media uses these days, they haven’t quite caught up. They still say ‘the voice actor,’ and no, there’s a whole medium out there. The games that I play, you see the performances, and it’s good, man. Just how the performance can come through even after they’ve painted over you with the [game character’s] skin. The eyes, the details in the eyes, it blows me away. With the technology they’ve got today, it allows me to come through even more.
I think because [games] are becoming more actor-driven and story-driven, the actor is bringing a lot more of himself to the game. The players and the audience, they get to engage with that, and they recognize that. And they spend more time with you than they do in a TV show or theater or any of that. They’re with you for a long time. I really love the fact that it’s become an actor’s medium. We need to rejig the vernacular—something that really describes what the medium has become now.
Ryan stepped into the performance capture process once again for Resynced, as the game features brand new narrative threads that were not included in the original game. For example, Ubisoft is including new characters that are able to join your ship’s crew, provided you complete their associated mission, while major faces such as Stede Bonnet and Blackbeard are also fleshed out.
Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is due out on July 9, 2026.
[Source – PC Gamer]