Crimson Desert Kliff actor says video game acting wasn't treated as "proper acting" by peers who are now asking how to get into the industry

Crimson Desert star Alec Newman says video game acting wasn't always treated with respect by his peers, but that's all changing now.

Alec Newman's been a part of some beloved games in recent years, having voiced Cyberpunk 2077's Adam Smasher, the main character in horror gem Still Wakes the Deep, and most recently, Crimson Desert's Kilff, the blockbuster game's main character and the face on the box.

But he's also been a video game voice actor for well over a decade, stretching back to supporting roles in Fable 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic, a time when Newman remembers his peers not taking game acting very seriously.

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"When I started doing voices for video games, it wasn't like a dirty secret or anything, but it somehow wasn't treated by my peers as proper acting," he recalls in an interview with Fall Damage. "And, now, all of those peers are ringing me up and asking how to get into it."

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Video game actors are now more visible and more recognizable than ever before, partly thanks to the internet and partly because games are penetrating the mainstream zeitgeist deeper and deeper every year. When games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 or Baldur's Gate 3 house meaty acting roles that lead to tons of acclaim, it's no surprise to hear that once-cautious actors are now curious about the medium.

As for Newman, he hasn't played "a second" of Crimson Desert "because my gaming sort of ceased when my daughter was born," but he still has nice things to say about the open-world hit. "The game is beautiful. It's unlike anything I've ever been involved in."

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