Video Game Voice Actors Who Have Been In The Industry The Longest

Summary

• Voice acting in video games dates back to the early ’90s, nearly as long as mainstream gaming itself.
• Several voice actors, like Jen Taylor, Michelle Ruff, and Jennifer Hale, boast decades-long careers in the gaming industry.
• Icons like Frank Welker, Charles Martinet, and Mark Hamill have been lending their voices to video games since the early ’90s.

To some players of a certain age, it can seem like voice acting in video games is still a relatively recent phenomenon. It’s only been around as more than a novelty since the early ’90s, after all. But really, that’s nearly as long as mainstream gaming itself has been around.

During that time, many voice actors have come and gone from the industry. But there are a surprising number of them who have long careers in video game voice over work, and even longer if you count non-gaming roles. But which ones have been part of the video game world the longest?

12

Jen Taylor

1997-Present

Best known for playing Halo’s Cortana (and The Weapon in Halo Infinite) along with formerly voicing Princess Peach in the Mario games, Jen Taylor has enjoyed a career voicing multiple iconic characters in games and beyond. But she’s been doing it for longer than you might realize.

Her first gaming voice gig involved multiple characters in 1997’s still delightful Backyard Baseball. This includes players Billy Jean Blackwood and Luanne Lui along with commentator Sunny Day.

11

Michelle Ruff

1997-Present

Image of Michelle Ruff courtesy of Flickr user Super Festivals under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

You’ve most likely heard Michelle Ruff somewhere in your life. Many know her from her anime roles like Fujiki Mine in Lupin the Third and Rukia Kuchiki in Bleach, but she’s had an impressive gaming resume too, playing Cream the Rabbit in Sonic games for years and Persona 5’s teacher Sadayo Kawakami.

While she’s been voicing in anime for even longer, her video game debut came in none other than 1997’s legendary birther of the metroidvania genre, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. She plays Maria Renard, and now you’ll be kicking yourself for not recognizing her distinctive voice sooner.

10

Jennifer Hale

1995-Present

Image of Jennifer Hale courtesy of Flickr user Gage Skidmore under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

Easily one of the most prolific voice actors in the entire industry, Jennifer Hale was already a legend before she played Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect trilogy. You may remember her as Bastila Shan in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic or more recently as Rivet in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.

But her roles are nearly innumerable, with her long and wonderful video game journey beginning in 1995, where she played Katrina in the CD-ROM version of Quest for Glory 4: Shadows of Darkness and Ivy in the PC game Carmen Sandiego: Junior Detective Edition. While the latter came out earlier, it’s still debated which technically counts as Hale’s first video game role.

9

Steve Blum

1995-Present

Image of Steve Blum courtesy of Flickr user John Manard under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

There are few voices as recognizable as that of Steve Blum. This is true whether he’s continuing his gruff run as Wolverine in games like Marvel Rivals and Marvel’s Midnight Suns or putting in a truly life-changing performance as the zombie player character voice in Saints Row: The Third.

He’s been an old pro in the anime and western cartoon scene since the ’80s. But Blum first landed a video game role as Vultures gang member Sid in classic point-and-click adventure game Full Throttle.

8

Wendee Lee

1995-Present

Image of Wendee Lee courtesy of English Wikipedia user Guyblade under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

The anime-to-video-games pipeline is real, and anime voice acting royalty like Wendee Lee is proof of that. Her brash roles as Faye Valentine in Cowboy Bebop and the titular character of the various Haruhi Suzumiya shows remain memorable, but she’s no slouch in the video game world either.

You may know her as Athena Cykes from the Ace Attorney games. But long before that, Lee voiced the villain Trixie in the 1995 PC game The Space Adventure – Cobra, based on an anime series she had actually already been part of nearly a decade prior.

7

Frank Welker

1994-Present

Image of Frank Welker courtesy of Flickr user Super Festivals under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Frank Welker already deserves a longevity prize for his time voicing Fred Jones in the Scooby-Doo cartoons and games since the original show in 1969 (and Scooby-Doo himself for many years since). In the gaming world, he regularly voices Megatron in various Transformers titles and uses his talents for animal sounds as the monkey Abu in Aladdin games.

After already enjoying an enviable voice acting career up to that point, Welker starred in his first video game with 1994’s educational Creative Reader: Around the World in 80 Days. He voiced a number of characters and animals in this, appropriately including the monkey sidekick Sidney. When you’re good at something, you just can’t help it sometimes.

6

Charles Martinet

1994-Present

Image of Charles Martinet courtesy of Flickr user Super Festivals under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

A man who needs no introduction in gaming circles, Charles Martinet is as important to the character of Mario as creator Shigeru Miyamoto himself. Sure, he has other roles, but you know exactly why you remember his name.

While Martinet doesn’t voice Mario anymore, his run as the character won’t be topped for a long time. His first time playing the character in an actual game was the 1994 CD-ROM version of Mario Teaches Typing, and he didn’t stop for a solid 30 years.

5

Nick Jameson

1993-Present

In every field, there are unsung legends. Nick Jameson fits the part in the voice acting realm, having not only taken part in some of the most influential early games to utilize real voices, but remaining active to this day with roles like Coach Oleander and Doctor Loboto in the Psychonauts series.

Along with substantial roles in games like Star Wars: X-Wing, Jameson also played John Hancock in 1993’s Day of the Tentacle. This game is notable for being among the first video games to fully utilize voice acting beyond just a gimmick.

4

Danny Delk

1993-Present

If you’re a fan of LucasArts adventure games, you’ve heard Danny Delk. He’s been the voice of everyone’s favorite skull Murray since the character first audibly spoke, and that’s not all he’s done for the genre.

Before Delk first clacked out his lines as Murray, and even before playing some substantial characters (including a few tentacles) in Day of the Tentacle, he showed up in the 1993 voiced version of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. Here, he played shopkeeper Omar Al-Jabbar and a possibly unfortunate number of nazis.

3

Mark Hamill

1993-Present

Image of Mark Hamill courtesy of Flickr user Gage Skidmore under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

He’s Luke Skywalker, The Joker, that fiery dude from Avatar: The Last Airbender, and a dense slew of others. Given how much of an overnight star Mark Hamill became thanks to Star Wars, it’s truly impressive how he still manages to carve out his own niche to this day.

Voice acting is his deal nowadays, and he’s darn good at it. That extends to video games, where he broke into the field with 1993’s inaugural Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers as Detective Mosely.

2

Edwin Neal

1991-Present

Image of Edwin Neal courtesy of Flickr user Gage Skidmore under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

It’s always cool when an actor gets to reprise a classic role of theirs in a video game decades later. That’s what happened with Edwin Neal, known for playing the cannibalistic hitchhiker in 1974’s original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre movie, embodied the part once again in the 2023 game of the same name.

But it wasn’t Neal’s first video game rodeo. He’s also appeared in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption as Ghor and DC Universe Online as a number of characters including Killer Croc. But his resume stretches all the way back to 1991’s Wing Commander 2: Vengeance of the Kilrathi, where he plays the beastly Emperor.

1

Jim Cummings

1990-Present

Image of Jim Cummings courtesy of Flickr user Super Festivals under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Jim Cummings is a genuine staple of the voice acting world. If you need a reliable gruff voice, he’s your guy. This is an incredible accomplishment for the man who is also the official voice of Winnie the Pooh.

He’s appeared in tons of video games from Skyrim to Kingdom Hearts. But his earliest game role actually harkens all the way back to 1990, where he voiced the villain Dalles in the remake compilation Ys: Book 1 & 2. Didn’t know Ys was that old, did you?