Selvom det er let at se på stemmeskuespilleren bag vores yndlingsspilkarakterer og konkludere, at de var nøglen til at bringe dem til live, er virkeligheden ofte mere nuanceret. Charlie Cox lagde ganske vist stemme til Gustave i Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, men det var Maxence Cazorla, der stod for alt motion capture-arbejdet bag karakteren.
I et interview med Eurogamer fortalte Cazorla om, hvordan spilbranchen kunne blive bedre til at anerkende arbejdet fra alle de mennesker, der er med til at få en karakter til at føles levende. "First of all, it was an incredible honour for me that Charlie spoke publicly and acknowledged my work. I was deeply moved by his humility and generosity," sagde han. "In the end, it's really the combination of these two performances, along with the incredible writing and development work, that gave birth to the character."
Cazorla er dog ikke overbevist om, at løsningen nødvendigvis er at opdele priserne i separate kategorier for stemme- og motion capture-præstationer. "When it comes to a potential motion capture category, I think it's a delicate subject, because every game is built differently," forklarede han. "In this case, Clair Obscur is a game where many of the characters are created through collaboration between two actors. For example, Maelle with Charlotte Hoepffner and Jennifer English, Lune with Estelle Darnault and Kirsty Rider, Verso with Ben Starr and myself. Other games might have a single actor doing full performance capture, and some projects even involve stunt performers, motion capture actors, and voice actors all contributing to the same character."
I stedet kunne han godt tænke sig at se en pris for Bedste Karakter. "That's something the DICE Awards already do, and I think it's a very intelligent approach... Video games are, by nature, a collaborative art form, and characters resonate because many artists give them their soul. Celebrating a Best Character category feels more logical to me than isolating a single performer and potentially leaving others invisible."
The Game Awards rummer allerede et væld af kategorier, men bliver ofte kritiseret for, at de ikke føles tilstrækkeligt adskilte eller gennemtænkte. Synes du, at Bedste Karakter burde tilføjes til blandingen?