A seasoned voice actor has described the video game industry as a "disaster zone" after the back-to-back cancellation or rebooting of three projects they were working on.
Elias Toufexis, who portrays Sam Coe in Starfield and Adam Jensen in the two most recent Deus Ex games and has nearly 20 years' experience as a video game actor, took to Twitter yesterday to discuss the state of the industry: "Deus Ex got canceled. This other massive game I was both acting and directing on got canceled and a third game I was acting and direction on got reworked and [is] now starting from scratch, whole new team."
Deus Ex got canceled. This other massive game I was both acting and directing on got canceled and a third game I was acting and directing on got reworked and now starting from scratch, whole new team. The video game world is a disaster zone right now.February 8, 2024
Describing the video game world as "a disaster zone right now," Toufexis went on to joke that "I am presently working on two or three other games but I'd expect them all to be canceled before the end of the week or something."
It's not clear what two of those projects are, but the public cancellation of a third new-era Deus Ex game last week is certainly a high-profile example of the uncertainty that continues to rock the industry. Embracer Group, which hoovered up swathes of the industry before losing out on a $2 billion investment, has shuttered some of the studios that it purchased over recent years, with layoffs affecting many others, including Human Revolution and Mankind Divided developer Eidos Montreal.
Toufexis notes that he'll likely remain financially secure due to "many irons in the fire," but this isn't the first time he's spoken out about the current state of the industry. He recently addressed Deus Ex fans over the game's cancellation, and denigrated the rise of AI in voice acting circles, suggesting that his advice to burgeoning actors would be "don't bother" starting a career.
Toufexis also commented on the recent deal between studios and SAG-AFTRA over AI, saying that talent was not contacted over the agreement.
