The SAG-AFTRA (voice actors’ guild) got into a lot of controversy last year. This time, while this doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal, the upcoming game Mega Man Dual Override seems to be in jeopardy when it comes to voice acting.
What Happened?
SAG-AFTRA issued a “DO NOT WORK ORDER” on Mega Man Dual Override. What this means is that the previous voice actor for Mega Man in Mega Man 11, Ben Diskin, won’t be reprising his role for that game. SAG-AFTRA has rules for its actors to not work on games that will not sign their agreement.
In this case, CAP COM has not signed the conditions that SAG-AFTRA is looking for. The ones we know of are voice actors’ protection from having their voices used for AI production. While there is no official work from CAP COM, we can only wait.
What Can Happen Next?
It is still possible for Ben to reprise his role should CAP COM want to sign the agreement from SAG-AFTRA. The other way is that CAP COM will just hire another voice actor to do it. The last option, and this one is doubtful, CAP COM will not put a voice on Mega Man.
After all, that was the case back in the NES days. He only had a voice during the PlayStation 1 era, moving forward as well as those numerous spin-offs. People have their opinions and preferences. Some people say that Mega Man doesn’t really need to talk a lot.
In the case of Mega Man 11, all he did were grunting noises and one-liners. However, fans would still want to give the Blue Bomber a voice. We’ll just have to wait and see what CAP COM plans to do with this situation.
