Developer Owlcat Games has announced in a recent blog post on Steam that it has recast the voice actor behind both the male version of The Expanse: Osiris Reborn’s protagonist and his twin brother J. While the blog post states that the decision was due to the voice actor feeling “less expressive than [Owlcat Games] wanted,” it also follows a wave of complaints from those who played the game’s closed beta back in April.
The “future plans” update lists several changes planned for the full release of The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, including more “polished” facial animations, a planned rework for the “Ask” companion system, and a “more intuitive” update for the game’s cover system. However, the biggest change is undoubtedly the recasting of the game’s fully voiced protagonist.
“We’ve noted some of the key points below (based on your feedback), and what actions we’ve already taken and plan to take down the road,” reads the Steam community post. “While the voice actor for the male protagonist and J put in a lot of good work, they felt less expressive than we wanted. Because of this, we are changing the voices of the male protagonist and J.”
It’s a bold move and, frankly, a bit of a surprise, although perhaps it shouldn’t be too shocking considering that Owlcat Games’ community manager directly addressed the criticism in a comment on the r/TheExpanseRPG subreddit last month.
Personally, as someone who did not like the closed beta for The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, I find this change odd. I think the issue stemmed less from the voice actor and more from the dialogue they were given to work with, as their performance just felt directionless as a whole. The voice actor for the female protagonist sounded similarly stiff in certain sections, as it just felt as if neither voice actor had a lot to work with.
To that end, however, there may be some light at the end of the tunnel, as the Steam post also addressed players’ criticism of the rather cheesy dialogue that was present in the closed beta: “Though the overall narrative tone of the game is a deliberate creative direction, the player feedback helped us identify the moments where certain interactions felt too inconsistent or out of place. As a result, some conversations in the game will be adjusted to make character reactions feel more natural, responsive, and grounded.”
The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is still targeting a Q2 2027 release according to its Steam page, so there is plenty of time left for the team at Owlcat Games to rework all of the issues addressed in the feedback post. While it’s obviously good to hear that the team is listening to players’ feedback on the closed beta, I can’t help but feel sorry for the unnamed voice actor who got caught in the crossfire…especially when it feels like his performance may have had more to do with the direction he was given, and less with his talent as a voice actor.
