From Joel to Game Director: Troy Baker is Trading the Mic for the Dev Kit (And I'm Cautiously Into It)
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
Gaming's most prolific voice actor, Troy Baker, has revealed he's in the early stages of developing his own game, inspired by the success of peers like Abubakar Salim and the legendary directors he's worked with over the years.
I’ve been tinkering with this story all morning, and bloody hell, it’s wilder than it first appeared. You know Troy Baker, right? Of course you do. If you’ve picked up a controller in the last decade, there’s a roughly 98% chance his voice has vibrated through your headset. He’s been Joel in *The Last of Us*, Sam Drake in *Uncharted*, and most recently, he stepped into the iconic fedora of Indy in *Indiana Jones and the Great Circle*. But according to a fascinating new report from Victoria Phillips Kennedy over at Eurogamer, the man who has voiced half of the digital world is looking to actually build a piece of it himself.
Now, before we collectively roll our eyes and mutter about 'actors staying in their lanes,' hear me out. There’s something brewing here that feels like more than just a vanity project. Baker isn’t just looking to put his name on a box; he wants to move behind the camera, or the dev kit, as it were. In a recent chat with Eurogamer, Baker revealed he’s starting to have 'the conversations' about what kind of story he wants to tell and—more importantly—who he wants to tell it with.
### The 'Abubakar Salim' Catalyst
Every wizard needs an apprenticeship, or at least a bit of inspiration to realize they can cast the big spells too. For Baker, that spark seems to have come from Abubakar Salim. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because Salim (the voice of Bayek in *Assassin’s Creed Origins*) didn't just stop at acting. He went out, founded Surgent Studios, and gave us the incredibly moving *Tales of Kenzera: Zau*.
Baker told Eurogamer that he’s 'played the hell' out of Abu’s games and admires how he turned passion into a legitimate business endeavor. It’s a bit like seeing your mate brew a particularly potent potion and realizing, 'Wait, I’ve been helping gather the herbs for years, maybe I should try my hand at the cauldron.' It’s that infectious enthusiasm for the medium that makes me look at this with a glimmer of optimism rather than my usual healthy dose of skepticism.
### Learning from the High Priests of Gaming
Here’s where it gets really interesting for the lore-hunters among us. Think about the people Troy Baker has spent his workdays with over the last fifteen years. We’re talking about the 'paragons of the industry,' as he calls them. He’s worked directly with Hideo Kojima, Neil Druckmann, Ken Levine, Todd Howard, and Vince Zampella.
If you were looking to get a PhD in 'How to Make a Game Everyone Obsesses Over,' that is the faculty you’d want. Baker isn't just mimicking their style; he told Eurogamer he’s looking to take those tenets—those fundamental principles of storytelling and game design—and innovate. He’s spent years as the instrument in their orchestra; now he wants to see if he can conduct.
I reckon there’s a massive advantage here that most indie devs would kill for. He’s seen the 'how the sausage is made' at the highest level. He knows what it looks like when a project is spiraling, and he knows what it looks like when a creative genius like Kojima finds that spark. That kind of institutional knowledge is like having a legendary-tier map in a fog-of-war world.
### The 'Not Rushed' Mantra (A Breath of Fresh Air)
In an industry where 'crunch' is a dirty word we can’t seem to get rid of and corporate overlords demand annual releases like clockwork, Baker’s approach is refreshing. When asked about his timeline in meetings, his response was simple: 'Not rushed.'
Bloody brilliant.
He’s taking his time because he wants the caliber to match the giants he’s emulated. In our current landscape—where we see 'revolutionary' claims attached to half-baked updates—hearing a creator say they are prioritizing quality over a release window is enough to make this digital wizard do a little jig.
### The Skeptic’s Corner: Can He Actually Do It?
Now, let's sprinkle in a bit of that gentle skepticism I promised. Making a game is hard. Like, 'trying to solve a Rubik's cube while someone throws bricks at you' hard. Being a brilliant actor doesn't automatically make you a brilliant game director. We’ve seen plenty of creative types jump from one medium to another only to find that the technical hurdles of game development are a completely different beast than performance capture.
And let's be real, the industry is in a weird spot. We’re seeing consolidation left and right, and corporate PR speak often smothers genuine innovation. If Baker’s project is going to succeed, it needs to be more than just a 'cinematic experience'—it needs to remember it’s a *game*. But considering his pedigree and the fact that he’s looking at this through the lens of a player first, I’m willing to bet he might just pull it off.
### Why This Matters to Us
Whether you’re a fan of narrative-heavy titles or you’re deeply embedded in the Web3 scene looking for the next evolution of digital storytelling, this is a story to watch. We often talk about 'community-driven' games, but seeing creators move across roles within the industry brings a different kind of 'human story' to the corporate machine. It shows that the people making these worlds are still fans of them.
Baker’s latest work as Jack Pepper in *Mouse: P.I. for Hire* and Indy in *The Great Circle* (which, by the way, is hitting the Switch 2 on May 12th—mark your calendars) proves he’s still at the top of his acting game. But the prospect of a 'Troy Baker Original'? That’s the kind of unexpected crossover that gets my wizard robes in a twist.
So, what do you reckon? Is he going to create the next *Last of Us*, or are we looking at a 'too many cooks' situation? Personally, I’m hoping for the former. The industry could use a bit more magic from someone who actually knows how to cast the spells.
*Original reporting and interview courtesy of Victoria Phillips Kennedy at Eurogamer.*
Tags: Troy Baker, Game Development, Indie Games, Storytelling, Industry News
Original article: Eurogamer