Sandfall Interactive's mammoth J'RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 had some Hollywood credentials in the form of Andy Serkis in the cast. The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars icon voiced Renoir in the game, and he's over the moon for how it's been received.
"They sent me the pitch deck and I looked at it, and I just thought, 'This is so interesting.' What a video game. And I'm so thrilled for these guys because I love the idea of it, but I love the visuals of it," he tells Variety (below). "I just thought it was beautiful, and I'm so thrilled for their success. These guys had never made a video game before. It was their first one, and they learnt on YouTube tutorials."
Right enough, it was Sandfall's debut, but many of the devs came from other studios, bringing considerable acumen. Nonetheless, not only did it sell well, but it's earned numerous awards to boot. "It's such an emotional story for a video game, and it just looks extraordinary, and the music in it is so powerful," he adds.
His involvement in the medium stretches back decades, to the Lord of the Rings movie tie-ins of the early 2000s. He then worked on Heavenly Sword for Ninja Theory, and he describes a much different environment in those days compared to now.
"At that point, actors looked down on video games as like, 'I wouldn't get involved in a video game,'" Serkis explains. "Now, young actors [are] coming out of drama schools, and they're like, 'I really wanna be in a video game.'"
The work has become more lucrative than ever thanks to games such as Clair Obscur, as well as the likes of Crimson Desert and Baldur's Gate 3. These projects offer meaty roles, where performers can truly dig into the material and help bring the narrative to life. There's considerable fame on offer too, between social media and what's become a legitimate award circuit between The Game Awards, the Golden Joysticks, the BAFTA Games Awards and beyond.
What once seemed like a consolation prize is now an extremely worthy career path in the performing arts. Long may it continue – and actors such as Serkis getting to be involved on occasion as well.
