Troy Baker, the voice of the famous Joel Miller from The Last of Us games, today faces not a horde of zombies but a wave of criticism. What is debating? A tweet posted by the dubber announcing his partnership with a new NFT company that aims to monetize voice extracts. Voiceverse NFT, the company in question, produces voice recordings that buyers can then use for videos or TikTok.
“I’m starting a partnership with VoiceverseNFT to explore ways we could together bring new tools to new creators to do new things, and empower everyone to have a chance to own and invest in IP ( intellectual property) they create. We all have a story to tell. You can hate. Or you can create. What will it be?“
The choice was quickly taken by his community who therefore chose to hate. Below the tweet, many negative replies were posted: “There’s no artistic value in it, it’s just money and scams with the facade of art”; “I start a partnership with the unfollow button”; and many others…
Then a very interesting tweet was published: “Are you going to make NFTs of yourself?(implied from his voice acting), to which Troy Baker responded with a “no” categorical.
A response that only made the situation worse. Many of his followers did not understand the link of the tweet with the image if the latter did not notify an NFT around Baker. In addition, the fact of having announced a partnership with a brand for which he will not do NFTs disturbs his community.
Well aware of the bomb he had just thrown, Troy Baker later replied, “* I always want to be part of the conversation, even if sometimes I find myself in the middle of an explosive conversation. I appreciate that you share all your thoughts and give me something to think about. I’m just a storyteller trying to tell my story to anyone who wants to hear it and hope I can help others do the same. Sometimes it works, sometimes No. I’m grateful to those who are passionate about their position and not only feel safe to express it, but also have the means to do so. The “hate / create” part maybe was a bit antagonistic *…“
The voice actor now hopes that his community can forgive him for bringing up this topic of debate and highlights the fact that he only wanted to start the conversation. It is still unclear if the partnership with Voiceverse NFT still holds despite the largely negative responses from users. The very nature of the partnership also remains unclear.
To see in the coming months if Baker will have decided, or not, to enter the world of NFTs.