Hi, I need a voice actor for my game. Lets say I find one from fiverr what kind of agreement do I need for commercial use? Can it be signed digitally or does it need to be signed and sent by post? I have never done this before. Any info much appreciated!
VoiceBunny
Add a question to this topic, Anyone have some idea an approximate price / word, price / time. I know the price depends on the voice actor, but an average ?
That information could help to define some design decisions. As I probably supposed, voice acting is not cheap.
Voice actors are expensive.
And the more demands and actor has, the more his/her prices goes up…
It’s a very BAD idea to even add voices to your game if your development budget is below $100.000
If you are making a “first game ever”, consider not using voices at all.
no voices then … :o
You can try http://voiceactingalliance.com/
and http://voiceacting.proboards.com
There are talented voice actors there who are looking to participate in projects for a reduced rate and sometimes even for free, in order to add to their portfolio. You never know what kind of auditions you will receive 
If you decide to post auditions make sure you follow the guidelines.
There seems to be a lot of misinformation here about this.
(from www.voices.com)
"When budgeting for a voice-over in your video game, consider this rule of thumb, $100-250 per page of script. A page of script is approximately 250 to 300 words. Here’s an example:
1000 words of dialog between characters in your game
Approximately 4 pages of script
Budget between $400 and $1000"
More info can be found here Video Game Voice Actors - Best Voice Overs | Voices
It’s not just the cost of actors that counts.
Characters that speak add a whole range of new development costs and requirements. You’ll also need lip syncing software, dedicated programmer, dedicated animator and so on… If you can’t pay for all those ppl, doing it all by yourself will stretch development time.
Once a character in game speaks, it also breaks all immersion for other communication format such as text, it’s a catch22.
I think, that without knowing exactly what kind of game the OP is making, it’s tough to provide proper advice. For example, perhaps they require a narrator only as one example, (which happens to be a game I personally voiced), then the expense is minimal.
On the other hand, for a third person based game with 3d characters, facial expressions etc, then the above advice rings true in terms of lip sync, quality of dialogue, facial expression, etc.
Without having more details on the kind of game, not much more can be said aside from exploring the links posted in this thread and doing some research.
I need a narrator, well sort of.
If you need only one voice-over artist for a story-telling it shouldn’t be that expensive (and you won’t be in need of lip syncing software). I think in this case expenses Shogo999 counted should be accurate. And at this website pricing is a little bit different.
And don’t forget about Youtube! There are MANY Youtube personalities that would be willing to offer their voice for projects. You just need to reach out to them. The great thing about Youtube/Twitch streamers who offer voice services, they’ll usually have all the voice equipment needed. So that burden isn’t on your shoulders. Though, you’ll likely play extra for them using their own equipment.
If this is your first game, bootstrapping is the name of the game. To get your project off the ground for as little money as possible. You’re true expense will need to be focused on marketing and getting your title out in front of people. This cost a lot of money, unless you have a “Affordable Viral Marketing” idea.
I agree with others in that, Voice acting should not be implemented in games. By doing so, the overall complexity of your project will increase exponentially. More money, more work, more overhead for a project that has not proven itself financially. Voices can also break the immersion for a lot of players.
Games are about action. Focusing on players doing interesting, challenging, fun actions mechanics is why gamers enjoy games. Vocal narratives and stories have no place in games. If players want story, they’ll read a book or watch a movie. Players wanting action and immersing themselves in unique environments, worlds, and situations they’ll pick up a game.
-this is just my ‘opinion’. ultimately, you are the game developer and it’s on your shoulders to create what you believe will be fun for your audience.
I’ve used www.fiverr.com with some success
Just be aware that most quality actors will charge more than 5 bucks, most will want 20$ for a license + 5$ per 100-150 words or something like that, but you can negotiate. Or get someone new who’s trying to raise their standing on the site and won’t charge extra - just in that case make sure they have good examples so it won’t be a crappy mic amateur or something like that.
I wholeheartedly disagree. Games have amazing potential as a story-telling medium, it’s just that most developers fail to utilise that potential. Interactivity is a powerful narrative tool which games are in a very unique position to use. If you’re telling a linear story, yeah, you’ll almost always be able to do that better in films/books/etc. (though even that doesn’t necessarily mean that you should never use linear storytelling in games) but you should not underestimate the potential of non-linear storytelling and there’s no medium better-suited to non-linear storytelling than video games. (And don’t underestimate the effect good storytelling can have on immersion.)
When I was 11, my brother and I were playing WoW not only on PC but outside, with wooden swords and sandy mana. We loved story that much. So I totally agree with you that some games are awesome at story-telling.
by luck for the creator of “The Stanley Parable”, more of one millon of sales, they never follow some advices in this post 