Troy Baker is arguably the most recognizable actor in the gaming space and has been so for many years. He has had starring roles in some of the most impactful franchises and standalone titles ever made, and his resumé features hundreds of projects. From Joel in The Last of Us to Indiana Jones, and from BioShock’s Booker DeWitt to Metal Gear Solid’s Ocelot, he has done it all.
Therefore, when I sat down recently to interview Troy Baker for a 40-minute episode of Access Granted, I simply had to get his take on the sustainability and state of the wider gaming industry. His work has taken him well and truly around the houses, and I wanted to get his two cents on the market from his unique perspective on it.
To get the full episode of Access Granted featuring Troy Baker, download the Insider Gaming app:
‘Keep The People Gainfully Employed’
It’s no big secret that the games industry finds itself in a very rocky position right now. The cost of development games is spiralling out of control, and we’re seeing studios crumble under the realization of that every day, or so it feels. Projects are being cancelled, prices are going up to unprecedented levels, and the notion of traditional, physical media stands at a precipice.#
We’re seeing strikes, unionization, class-action lawsuits, and games being shut down simply because they can’t carve out a space in this impossibly overcrowded market.
While talking to Troy Baker as part of an episode of Access Granted, I found out his take on the state of play:
Where the industry is at… It’s trying to salvage itself, it’s trying to find ways to keep itself sustainable.
I think it’s an erroneous conflation to think that everyone is these greedy fat-cats with Scrooge McDuck money bins, and they’re just swimming through their money.
That’s not true.
Everyone has a financial and a moral responsibility to keep the people on their payroll gainfully employed as much as possible, and trying actively to do that.
He then leaned into a slightly hotter take, given that we’d discussed this topic earlier in the interview: ‘If that means live-service games are how they’re trying to do that, then so be it. We’re seeing that model shift.’
The core operating model of the gaming space has indeed shifted dramatically over the years. There’s a lot of trend chasing that goes on in the industry. In the last decade or so, it has been all about pursuing battle royale titles, free-to-play live-service shooters, and, more recently, extraction shooters.
Not everyone sticks to that wagon, though. There are a lot of outsiders who make something that absolutely explodes, sells tens of millions of copies, and forever cements itself in the annals of gaming history. Most recently, that was something like Meccha Chameleon.
The hope is always that the gaming ship will right itself, but it seems that the further down the path we go, the more rocks we’re stumbling on as a collective.
Do you think Troy Baker is right with his takes on the industry? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
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Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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