Meet Gyoza, the pug making alien noises for Halo Infinite

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*heavy breathing*

(Image credit: Halo Official Instagram)

It's great that Steve Downes is reprising his role as Master Chief for the upcoming sixth installment in the Halo series, Halo Infinite, but he's not the most important actor lending his voice to the game. Enter Gyoza the pug, who was recently in 343 Industries' recording studio providing snarfles and burps for what may be a new alien species we'll meet in 2020. 

Gyoza (named after the Japanese pork and cabbage dumpling) can be seen staring intently into the camera before his recording session, which consists of a lot of treats, toys, and lip smacking. The video of Gyoza's unparalleled voice work was posted on Halo's official Instagram account, and the caption reads: "Meet our favorite pug, Gyoza.The best friend of our studio's Technical Art Director, his grunts, breaths, and excitement are sure to make for some... interesting sounds in #HaloInfinite." No word yet on who Gyoza is playing, but considering how his sounds are nothing like the noises of the Covenant grunts and jackals or the Promethean warriors, Gyoza may well be playing an entirely new alien race.

The video is best enjoyed by watching it twice - once with your eyes open and the second with them closed. The second time around, Gyoza's sounds seem far more sinister - what could this mysterious alien be eating? It's definitely not a treat…

Whatever alien Gyoza is providing the sounds for, we can safely say there has never been a cuter voice actor on 343 Industries' payroll. I, for one, am buying Halo Infinite solely for Gyoza content.

We don't know much about the new game, save that it's set to debut during the 2020 holiday season, and that it will refocus the series on the story of Master Chief. Back in August, studio head Matt Booty said that Halo Infinite is "more expansive" and gets back to "some of the earlier Halos." 

Alyssa Mercante
Alyssa Mercante

Alyssa Mercante used to be a features writer at GamesRadar and is now a freelance writer and editor. Prior to entering the industry, she got her Masters's degree in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Newcastle University with a dissertation focusing on contemporary indie games. She spends most of her time playing competitive shooters and in-depth RPGs and was recently on a PAX Panel about the best bars in video games. In her spare time Alyssa rescues cats, practices her Italian, and plays soccer.