How to Get Replaced Voicing a Video Game Character
If you happen to be a video game voice actor, there are a number of ways you can be replaced. Sometimes, you don’t have the name recognition of Kiefer Sutherland, and get replaced in the next entry of the video game franchise you’re known for. Other times, your name is Peter Dinklage but despite your name recognition, your voice is more robotic than the robot you’re portraying. And occasionally, if you are YouTuber named JonTron, the racist remarks you’ve littered over Twitter and Twitch will come home to roost.
We currently live in a world where politics are regressive, hearkening back to a simpler time where racism was encouraged. We also live in a world where many games are regressive, hearkening back to a simpler time where the SNES was king. However, we are also living in a time where the developers behind a regressive game are willing and able to not only call out a voice actor’s regressive racism, but re-record the lines and release a patch to remove them.
While day one patches are generally used to fix bugs that should have been amended prior to the game going gold, Yooka-Laylee studio Playtonic is made the greatest use of a day one patch in the history of day one patches. Ever. Announcing JonTron’s removal from Yooka-Laylee, Playtonic said in a statement:
JonTron is a talented video presenter who we were initially, two years ago, happy to include as a voice contributor in our game. However, in light of his recent personal viewpoints we have made the decision to remove JonTron’s inclusion in the game via a forthcoming content update. We would like to make absolutely clear that we do not endorse or support JonTron’s personal viewpoints and that, as an external fan contributor, he does not represent Playtonic in any capacity. Playtonic is a studio that celebrates diversity in all forms and strives to make games that everyone can enjoy. As such, we deeply regret any implied association that could make players feel anything but 100% comfortable in our game worlds, or distract from the incredible goodwill and love shown by our fans and Kickstarter backers.
JonTron, or Jon Jafari, as he is known on legal documents, is a founder of YouTube channel network Normal Boots, as well as the host of a host of other YouTube shows. He has also come under fire for espousing racist viewpoints on Twitter and his Twitch stream. Some of his greatest hits include:
- Mexicans are attempting to recapture American land!
- White people are experiencing demographic displacement due to immigration, just like South Africa’s apartheid!
- Wealthy black Americans commit more crimes than poor white Americans!
- Black Lives Matter doesn’t disavow violence!
- We’ve gotten rid of discrimination in our Western countries (obviously, none of his statements amount to discrimination)!
While these remarks have cost JonTron his Yooka-Laylee job and he has reportedly lost a number of YouTube subscribers, at the time of writing, he has retained over 3.1 million subscribers.
With 3.1 million supporters of his racism, JonTron has obviously realised the error of his ways, providing a contrite apology, without actually apologising or expressing remorse.
I said lots of stuff that could be misconstrued in all sorts of ways.
I was trying to speak to the increasing tribalization of our culture.
I suppose you could guess the reaction if Samantha Bee said black people ruined America for voting overwhelmingly for Barack Obama, which they did both times.
People looking at this think I’m some kind of explicit ethno-nationalist, but I’m not.
At Silent Protagonist, we understand the desire to not appear like some kind of explicit ethno-nationalist, and have some words of advice to anyone wanting to avoid appearing this way: Don’t act like some kind of explicit ethno-nationalist.
