Baldur's Gate 3's Neil Newbon isn't sure about a mocap Game Award, but he's got a great alternative

Clair Obsur: Expedition 33 is perhaps the most exciting gaming success story since Baldur's Gate 3. Brought to vibrant life by a small, double-A developer with a true vision and knack for storytelling, it may not have the same scope as Larian's epic, but Sandfall has etched itself into many a history book - including the Game Awards'. The most decorated RPG yet, it earned three nominees in the performance category: Ben Starr, eventual winner Jennifer English, and Charlie Cox, who implored fans to recognize his motion capture actor, Maxence Cazorla, instead. Cox's comments have bred the question of whether the Game Awards needs its own motion capture category. I ask Baldur's Gate 3 and Resident Evil alumni, Neil Newbon, for his take.

Newbon won the performance category at TGAs 2023 for his role as Astarion in Baldur's Gate 3, and has since been vocal about his opinions on human authenticity and AI in videogames. While the award's official description claims it's for "voice-over acting, motion and/or performance capture," most of the time the focus seems to be on the VO part, with Cox's Expedition 33 nomination being the perfect example.

As someone who owns a motion-capture academy and training facility, I ask Newbon if he thinks there should be a separate award for mocap, spurred on by the debate around Cox's comments. The short answer is that he doesn't know, but he's got a solution that I think works for everyone.

"I think there is something to be said for recognition of motion capture performances," he tells me. "It gets tricky to make many awards for many different aspects: you could do mocap and voice, or PCAP [performance capture] and voice, or you could do PCAP, or just mocap - you can split these up in many different ways. So, I think recognition is really important, [but] I don't know if there should be multiple different awards for every part of performance in that way. I don't know how complicated it gets.

"What I would say is I think Charlie is awesome," he continues. "I think Charlie is very humble, and I think it's very cool that he's focusing on Maxence. I like the idea of double-billing, personally. If you have a situation where people can argue that, yes, both people did such great work and that they both contributed to the performance, then why not just do double-billing?

"I had double-billing on Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy way back in 2016 when Takeshi Nozue [Kingsglaive's director] decided, through no conversation with us, to give everybody double-billing. So Aaron Paul and I both took credit for Nyx, for instance. That was pretty awesome, and I'd love to see more of that. I think double-billing is a good idea, because I think it really helps the actor."

"Awards-wise, I don't know," he continues. "It's important to have best lead and best supporting. If you wanted to do another one, I guess you could do a mocap award, but then you should make it more inclusive. What about the people that are relatively unsung: the ones that do creature work, the ones that do background art - where do you go from there? Honest answer? I'm not sure. Recognition is definitely valid, though."

I bring up Alexander Ward who, while currently in the spotlight for Critical Role's Campaign 4, has spent his entire career on creature capture and acting. "Where's his award?!" Newbon laughs. "Awards don't make us actors. Awards are lovely because they're a highlight on the work we do, and it's helpful to actors and also the games that they're a part of as well. But it doesn't make us actors.

"Alex Ward is an amazing performer in the space. Would it be great to give him an award for the work he does? Abso-fucking-lutely because he's awesome. Does it take anything away from Alex or myself or anybody else if we don't get an award? Of course not. Of course it doesn't. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of actors in the gaming space that may not be recognized year on year, but they are all valid, they are all authentic, and they're all amazing.

"Awards are very useful and they're great to be highlighted with your peers in the industry, and it is a wonderful thing to have that recognition. It doesn't make you the performer. You are the performer, and I think it's really important to understand that."