The original voice actress for Bayonetta wants fans to boycott Bayonetta 3.

That's a good question. From what I have seen, it varies, but it's relatively low and difficult. As @ConanTheStoner said, you either take the $4K or look elsewhere. It's like this in the world of work, you're just a number and you're replaceable

I can believe her. I don't think Platinum means to be cheap just their typical poor studio management that's the cause of them having to juggle the development of countless games. They probably burned through a lot of the money budgeted for this game long ago, or maybe when they were short funded on a different project or few. They could be broke or maybe they were close to it back when they negotiated the VA work.

That's probably why they were begging MS to start Scalebound back up. Think of the extra revenues their broke ass would have had they released Wonderful 101 or Sol Cresta on Xbox too. Wouldn't be a considerable fortune, but maybe enough to properly compensate the VA artists. Might have even changed how MS felt about reviving Scalebound. But they still being petty petty petty.

I know they have a lot of potential as a studio but I am starting to have doubts about whatever they touch now I might at least wait after this releases for proper assessment of rhe game. Won't trust the release reviews because I can see people getting caught up in the moment like with No Man's Sky.

Been reading on this on GameFaqs, and I am more on the critical end but will be open to new information as this continues. I really don't know, and frankly have gotten exhausted of this trend of a known actor, VA, or something running to social media after something bombed with them. This also doesn't factor in another trend I am finding where it turns out that they may have been hell to work with, so there may be more going on in the background and I am willing to hold a concrete opinion until more is said. Right now, this thing does not give off the best impressions due to context of beforehand.

I'm not in the industry at all, but I've always sort of assumed that voice actors work on more of a quantity basis, like "OK I did ten hours of voice acting for this game, on to the next project" and they can just crank out a lot of work in a week.

If that's true, then 4000 dollars is a lot of money. I can't imagine there's that much dialogue in the game.

At the same time, this is a big project so I imagine they should pay her more, plus she is (or would be) a returning cast member, which also adds to the cost.

But jeez 4000? Seems cheap. I mean, reeeeeeeeeeally cheap. I imagined for something like this it'd be at least five digits.

Why would I trust them over her? Not trying to be snide, genuine question.

Typical non-answer: it probably depends on the actor.

Jennifer Hale seems very active according to her IMDB page. Just eyeballing it, looks like at least ~10 projects per year, much of it seasonal.

But yeah $4000 is crap, insulting. The VA has a right to be upset imo, this is a big title and fans expect certain things (like the same VA).

Nintendo is cheap, degrading and also holding the industry down with its glorified 720p gaming experience. Honestly, I don't know how at this point you could say anything good about Nintendo at all. That latest president is a businessman and the care that Nintendo used to have went out the window when he was hired.

When I watched the latest Bayonetta 3 gameplay, before we knew anything about this, it rubbed me the wrong way. When Bayonetta 2 was shown I was completely mesmerized and blown away. With Bayonetta 3 I say to myself: Why do these graphics suck so bad for how long this was in development.

The fact is Nintendo wants to make money without spending money because it works for them. I mean go look at Final Fantasy VII: Remake and tell me that Nintendo matters from a technical stand-point.

Nintendo won this generation because they tricked players into thinking the Switch could be a standard console, but the truth is it's about as much a console as a laptop. It might be connected to your TV, but it is NOT a desktop.

The low paycheck for a woman does not surprise me from this company OR Platinum games. I truly doubt she's lying about this and the production quality from the last gameplay speaks volume to her statements.

Bayonetta 3 will probably get slammed by the critics. You just watch. So disappointing that Nintendo got a hold of that franchise.

@nintendoboy16: Twitter is always looking for something to complain about.

I'm not saying the offer was right, but we don't even know if this is true.

If it's true, it was a bad offer, but it's their right to offer it and her right to refuse it.

I'm buying Bayonetta 3 because I love the series.

Woah, chill. I'm not defending anyone here. And even if what I said got interpreted that way, bridging it to "Defending Nintendo" some smooth brain shit.

Don't include me in the fact you got baited by a basic ass SW post lol.

@ConanTheStoner: Well, that was how it was read on Sakai's half. Just saying.

It is unfortunate that their negotiations broke down over the performance fee. And, assuming that is true, she may be right to feel personally insulted by the price.

But is it really right for her to call for a public boycott of the game itself because of her personal resentment?

Not to mention that there are many other developers involved in the production of the game, not just the management she wants to attack. What she is doing now is calling for the "boycott" of the very game that many developers, who are invisible to us, have worked so hard for years to create, because of a personal grudge.

It is only the management side that she is unhappy with, and she should either lawyer up and negotiate with them or move on to another job with better terms. Calling for a boycott of the game itself to damage its sales/brand and even those 99% of developers who have nothing to do with determining her fee seems overly emotional and childish, which is exactly the opposite attitude of Bayonetta.

Doubtful that this is an isolated incident. Probably a lot of this kind of low balling stuff goes on in the industry. Likely why they have to sign NDA’s.

@Archangel3371:

All the time man. One of the most shilled for companies on this forum recently made me a shite offer. 20k less than the lowest I've made in my career. 😂

Was annoyed that they even wasted my time with the interview process only to come with an offer like that. It happens though, you just say no thanks and move on.

Doubt there's a business out there that hasn't made an insulting offer to someone.

Even Obsidian in perpetual money problems caused by shit dev demand like Bethesda's Fallout New Vegas don't lowball people.

Everyone’s a victim.

Life lesson.... everyone is expendable and keep your ego in check.

Why would I boycott a game based on a complete stranger not getting the salary she thinks she deserves?

Seriously, what a dumb move. Other companies will be reluctant to offer her work based on her actions here….and if she thinks she’s irreplaceable, she’s wrong. Nobody is.

@ConanTheStoner: oh snap dogg, where is your twitter tirade regarding the offer?

@SolidGame_basic:

Damn, I should. Then tell everyone to boycott their next game and donate to my bank account.

On topic though, doubt we'll ever get the full story here. Inclined to believe Hellena. Even without all the facts, doesn't make sense for her to lie about it. Maybe it is like Juub was saying, just Platinums way of letting her go without saying it... which would be pretty shitty tbh.

All I really want to know at this point is how much they paid Jennifer Hale.

There are other people in the world who also think they should earn more. What if everyone would make whiny videos and ask everyone to boycott? lol. Find another job and stop being an entitled bitch. Jesus.

Would she just come out and give them flak for offering a measly 4000 dollars, that'd be fine. She'd get her point across, and I'd dislike what Platinum did. But her making a video where she half-tries to cry asking people to boycott.. Now I don't give a shit.

Damn Conan and I are the only two good people here, and we the only two people that play these games. Crazy.

You have to have a lot of hate in your heart to want to boycott the hard work of hundreds of people. I’m gonna preorder 2 more copies to show my support. Need an extra for a 💝

@ConanTheStoner: She’s part of the VA union, so her pay would have been really good. They just finished their big fight to get better pay.

Agreed. I feel for Hellena, but I still want to play the game. Future Platinum projects though? Well, I did say this might be my last Platinum game.

Nintendo's CEOs have always been businessmen. That's how it's been for ANY company. The one that called himself a gamer was disliked until he DIED IN OFFICE, to the point where Nintendo did anything stupid this gen, critics tastelessly invoke his name like the villain from Fallen Order.

Nintendo was the only one, repeat: ONLY ONE to foot the bill for Bayonetta. Sony said no. Microsoft, who Platinum also worked with until the Scalebound incident said no, and because of said incident, Platinum haven't worked on an Xbox game since. SEGA was about to shelve it because they didn't like the numbers in contrast to their precious hedgehog. You really think there wouldn't be any corruption if anyone else published the franchise? Hell, SEGA has done some s*** recently that IS anti-consumer!

And I'm sure this is on the developer. Why do you think David Eddings and Troy Baker refuse to work with Gearbox again? Kamiya even went full Donald Trump in light of these allegations Hellena is making here.

Way to show the spine. I'm gonna stand up for principle!!, but later, not now.

@nintendoboy16: Helena was never gonna get the main part. She was offered a smaller role and turned it down. In the trailer there are multiple Bayonetta‘s. They wanted to go with a more talented, more famous, and an actress who could play multiple voices. Helena would have voiced one of the Bayonettas for a small role, but she got mad she was being replaced and turned it down.

Now she is calling for boycotts and insulting Jen showing the low life she really is. Could be another reason she was replaced from the start.

Source?

@Litchie: Her 4K offer and the trailer. She’s part of the same VA Union as Jen. Both just finished a massive battle to get VAs more money. Part of the union deal was that VAs can’t be underpaid no more. That’s what the fight was all about and the union won.

If she don’t like her pay, she should leave the VAs Union. 4K isn’t Union pay for playing multiple voices on a big franchise lead role. For example, the voice actor for Mario got paid 250k to voice one game. And that game was Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Like the average "always right" customer gives a f*** about all this? They'll still shop at Amazon despite every thing wrong about Bezos and his ilk.

I can still press these companies to do the right things in other ways too, you know.

Right. Personally I don't really care much, voice acting seems like not exactly hard work. Obviously it's recognizable when there is BAD voice acting. Still, there is no obligation to pay any particular amount. Literally all she's entitled to is "minimum wage". The object for any dev should be to get quality work for the least amount of pay. If they want to hire some famous actor, that's different, but that is almost more like a marketing gimmick in the video game space ("hey guyz, look at this famous hollywood actor starring in our video game... it's got dat cinematic quality).

But if she feels she was lowballed relative to what people would normally expect, then sure, she can let people know. Probably doesn't change much in terms of people participating in a boycott, but it is a bit lame to not just bring back the same character and give her a small slice of the success of the game franchise. $4000 is obviously ridiculous in that light. If she was holding out for millions then she would be the ridiculous one. Hard to know without knowing if there was some middle ground on the table, or if they really did only offer $4000 as their "final offer".

This is pure conjecture and ignroes that the Japanese bayonetta actress is back, and is voicing all the Bayos.

Jennifer hale is definitely doing the voice of the other bayos as well. Stick to games you actually play.

The point is you aint doing shit lol.

It's not a boycott or standing for something, when you don't buy the game because it looks mid/doesn't interest you. That's called just not buying shit. A boycott would be something you actually would have bought, has interest to you, and you choose to go nah because of whatever reason. Its okay if you buy the game and don't care, that's perfectly fine.

But fam a spade is a spade, you aint doing shit. Your fence sitting at best with the "this might be my last platinum game, hur"

@2Chalupas: Ask her how much she got paid for the first two games. Bet it was 25-50k. When the truth comes to light her career is over. I get she is upset that she was replaced and offered a small role. But what shes doing is more insulting than a small role offer when you use to be a major role. Shes in the VA Union, she literally cant get screwed over pay.

@jg4xchamp: You actually think she was gonna voice all those roles for 4k and is part of the VA Union that just got finished winning a major battle for VA's to be properly paid. You actually think Atsuko Tanaka one of the most famous voice actors in videogames and anime accepted 4k for playing a major role, multiple voices, on a big francise. Come on bro. Funny this clown didnt say how much she was paid for Bayonetta 1 and 2.

Hellena Taylor is a nobody, the clown dont even have a wiki page. Bayonetta made her who she is today. And she has been nothing since Bayonetta. How does she even pay her bills if she hasnt had a job in VA since 2014.

Do i think jennnfer hale is getting 4k for this? no, she's probably getting paid a lot more given how prolific she is

Do I think someone who was willing to break NDA to go public with this, would then tell exactly what she was offered? Yeah, because people should get how serious a NDA is. I buy the theory/stance that makes more sense which is that they tried to low ball her to basically quit, so they could just get the voice actor they wanted. Not exactly an unheard of concept.

https://twitter.com/BryanDechart/status/1581326079091802113

This guy (a voice actor btw, so like you know a source) points out an example where they can do that while a project isn't registered under sag. Talking purely from the perspective of negotiations, that process would be seeing if you can get the MC for cheap, and then you do a take it or leave it with the other actors to see if you can avoid spending for the other actors, tho I think that one has too many dominos that would need to fall. Given how many voice actors on the staff are union.

4k Actually isn't that crazy for a game like Bayonetta. The first Bayonetta, she's on record for recordoing over 4 days, for 4 hour sessions. Which on the sag website, roughly is over 950 per session on their chart. So assuming its based on how many sessions they had planned for her, not a crazy thing to assume another Bayonetta game only has as much dialogue for 4-8 sessions.

Just because we have multiple bayonettas, doesn't mean its going to necessarily be that much more audio work. Especially when they might all sound the same, and are going to be. In both trailers you get the impression the other bayos are also voiced by the same person voicing the main Bayo.

4k was also the revised offer, I think people seem to be ignoring the part, where Platinum led with an even shittier offer.

@jg4xchamp: Lowball her to get her to quit? Wtf are you talking about, she wasnt under a contract. A simple no offer would have worked better. And no way in hell Tanaka one of the most richest and famous VAs in the business is getting paid 4k for a job. How the hell would she pay rent for that amazing house she has. The VA for Mario was paid 250k for Mario Galaxy 2 to say a few lines. Jen and Hellena are in the same VA Union, you cant lowball them, it is the whole purpose of the existence of the VAs Union. And Jen was probably paid 50-75k for her role. She is amoung the top paid VAs in the business.

According to ZipRecruiter, industry averages include:Entry-level voice actors: $13,500–$31,999 per year. Mid-level voice actors: $69,000–$87,499 per year. Experienced voice actors: $111,500–$199,000 per year.

Remember, shes in the freakin VAs Union, you know, the biggest in the business.

As if geekdom as a whole aren't bad with boycotts? The receipts on people that claim to boycott Call of Duty and Pokemon, but yet...

...besides, companies won't see the boycott, should it "work" as anything else other than "oh, uh, I guess the fans don't want more of X franchise" and off it. THEY don't care about certain criticisms addressed whether or not a game is successful.

Besides, there is a long, LONG list of developers and publishers that do the same thing. And it's in the whole entertainment industry. If I were to boycott one, I'll have to boycott them all and reject myself from ALL THINGS FUN. This needs to be approached systemically.

She sounds like a whiny entitled brat. Get over it and find some more work. This makes me want to buy it even more.

@ratchetclank92: This clown hasn’t had a VA job since 2014, she can’t find work, nobody likes her.

I just cant imagine that people are hearing this story and siding against her (obviously contingent she's not making it up). 4k is absolutely nothing, and we're talking about the voice/face of the character of the game. Given everything going on I think something else is probably at play here, but a 4k offer is bullsh*t given the job. Either Nintendo wanted her to quit due to the offer, did it out of malice to spite her, or they are really are this cheap.

Now that Jennifer Hale is replacing her we can pretty much guarantee that she's not getting 4k, most likely much higher. So if the goal was the drive her away then it will come at the price of sh*t PR and now having to deal with this type of company behavior.

If all of this checks out, then that would mean the offered her the absolute bare minimum they could get away with. This would be fine for a new IP from an unproven studio, but this is the 3rd game in a fairly well known franchise. Hell, Bayonetta got in Smash Bros... by winning a fan vote. She's an icon at this point, and Hellena originated the role. Absolutely nailed it if you ask me. To put this in perspective, they would have to offer the same rate to the terrible VA that did Loki if they wanted to bring that awful character back for some reason. That's fucked.

All that said, Hellena should have stopped posting after the first video. She made her point and should have left it there. Digging on Jenifer Hale for taking the role was uncalled for. But... I also can't get too mad at her. I learned today that Hellena Freaking Taylor has a day job, hasn't had consistent VA work in a long time, and never got a role more noteworthy than Bayonetta. Sucks knowing someone that good, with one of the most beautiful British accents I have ever heard, can't make ends meet doing VA. I imagine it was exciting for her to see a third game get announced, thinking it could get her career back on track or at the very least be one great last hurrah, only to be offered the absolute minimum salary for it. That would hurt. And then to have Platinum come out and say, "Oh it was just a confluence of events", yeah, that would piss me off too.

She could have handled this better, but she has a lot of pent-up frustration to vent. I get it.

@mesome713: Hey, remember when you said Taylor insulted Jennifer Hale?

"So that was a f***** lie!" - Tyler the Creator

@nintendoboy16: She stated she had no right to call herself Bayonetta. She has every right, she got the job. Jen is now Bayonetta and Helena is a clown that hasn’t worked since 2014.

This clown waited a week before the game launch to start a boycott and insult campaign. Where was she when Jen was announced so long ago. The coward was hiding and plotting her sad attempt of revenge. But look at Amazon, it’s now jumping up the charts of best sellers due to the added attention.

Still taking a wait and see approach on what Nintendo and/or Platinum might have to say on this but if this is genuine then I applaud Helena Taylor for sacrificing her career and speaking out. I don’t think companies should hide scummy business practices behind things like NDA’s and people should just accept things as being “the norm”. I really wish the best for her and appreciate all that she brought to the Bayonetta character.

Fascinating, extremely fascinating how people lines up to defend corporations over a real person. How could anyone be against their own self interest over that of corporations because of fanboyism! I think most here are not executives and are employees like the VA so even if you like the game and don't want to boycott it, why go and call her out for raising her voice.

She ended up giving this game way more marketing views that any of Nintendo’s efforts 😄 wouldn’t be surprised if this actually boosted sales, the opposite of what she was hoping.

Good! F*** him... he became the businessman he slammed Inafune for. Hypocritical racist prick...

@warmblur: if ai is going to take over, the game prices better be cheaper. Much cheaper.

@ConanTheStoner: damn Sony scumbags, offering such low pay. MS would never insult people like that

@blaznwiipspman1: Is that how some gamers had said about games released on digital form? How did that went?