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Do I need voice acting for video clips about games?



When you make an advertising video about the game, the question arises: should I add voiceover? On the one hand - it looks like a masthead, on the other - can it do without it? We analyze by examples when the video really needs a voice, and when you can without it.

The audio in the video consists of three audio tracks: music, sound effects and voice. We assume that any video needs music and sound effects. But with the voice, everything is not so clear. We’ll talk about him!

There is evidence that 76% of promotional videos can be understood only if the sound is turned on. Let's first consider the options when voice acting is necessary.

It’s better not to give up your voice in the video if:


1. The plot of the video is difficult to track without explanation


This is especially true for commercials whose task is to tell a story. For example, to acquaint viewers with the biography of the protagonist. Or explain the context that determines the balance of power in the game world and the user's role in it.

Give the viewer an opportunity to catch your idea. Voice dubbing with well-composed text will help control the viewer's attention and guide him through the plot. Let the viewer follow you and your thought, like a thread.

Try watching videos about Metropolis: Lux Obscura or Mafia Empire games first with the sound turned off, and then with the sound turned on.



The voice explains a lot, right?

2. The voice is needed more for artistic rather than practical purposes


You can do a lot with your voice: calm, seduce, scare; make empathy, laugh, reflect ... If you want to emotionally hook the audience, the voice is a great assistant in this. This applies to videos of any genre: both trailers and teasers.

A couple of examples:



When choosing speakers for a video about the game, pay attention to those who specialize in character voice acting. It’s not necessary to look for the role that your script provides for in the demo recordings: evaluate the breadth of the creative range of the performers. If the actor you have chosen is able to voice the gnomes, giants and spacecraft pilots - most likely, he will also sound the role you need successfully.

By the way, we wrote about some of the subtleties of character voice acting in this article .

3. The video should have not only an advertising, but also a training function


Do you want the viewer to understand exactly what he needs to do in the game? Explain this in voiceover.

In this case, the viewer who is hooked on the video will come into the game already prepared and will be able to immerse himself in the gameplay from the first tap. Even if he does not pass the training levels very carefully, he will already have an understanding of what is generally required to be done in the game. You can bring useful information in a straightforward and poetic way - depending on which feed suits your video better in mood.



If your game has already been published, according to messages from the players you can determine at what points they most often encounter unplanned difficulties. To reduce the load on the support service and increase the satisfaction of new users - try to show in the video the correct, from the point of view of the game process, player behavior.

4. You need a universal game commercial


If Facebook mutes the video in auto play, Youtube doesn’t do that - at least not yet. Even if you are now making video only for an advertising campaign on Facebook, it is possible that later you will want to post it on the game’s website or promote it as a preroll on Youtube. And here is the presence of a voice could be very useful to you.

Sometimes you have to give up voice acting for reasons of saving money or time - although sometimes the lack of voice may be due to a scenario idea. Let's see in what cases a video about a game can be made without a voice.

You can do without a voice if:


1. The video has spectacular music


A cool track will tell the viewer: now - only the introduction, but now - the main action. For such a technique to work, the track should not be monotonous, with alternating moments: introduction, theme development, climax, expressive ending. Moreover, all the moments, despite the different emotional “load”, are subject to a single rhythm.

If you want the music to “drag” the entire dynamics of the video, select the track before moving on to the animation. So you can associate the planned events in the frame with certain fragments of the melody. For example, in the video about the game PvPets: Tank Battle Royale, the opening scene corresponds to the entry into the music, scenes with gameplay slicing correspond to the main theme of the track, and the spectacular last event in the animation corresponds to the final chord.


In the teaser about the game Heroes of War Magic, warlike music escalates the atmosphere in the opening scene, then immerses the viewer in the context of battles in the fantasy world, and in the last seconds reinforces the call to action by expressive completion of the melody.



2. The video is extremely eventful ...


Concentrated action in the frame does not mean automatic rejection of voice acting. But if the scenes replace each other every 2-3 seconds and your video is rather a cutting of bright game moments without an obvious complication, climax and denouement, the video may well look good without a voice. But one cannot miss the choice of music here either: it must correspond to the footage in terms of energy and pace.

A couple of examples:




3. ... or vice versa - the animation is in no hurry


A video without a voice does not have to be aggressively intense. If everything that happens in the frame is clear at first glance, even with a cursory glance, and the voice would not tell the viewer anything fundamentally new, perhaps there is no urgent need for a voiceover text.

For example, in the trailer about the game “Alphabear 2”, dice with slogans are responsible for transmitting the explanations necessary for understanding the functionality of the application. Nothing, including the voice, violates the fabulously peaceful atmosphere of the video.


A similar situation is with the trailer for the game Mahjong Village. The main thoughts are conveyed by animated slogans, the mood is supported by music with bamboo and beach motifs, and key events in the gameplay are accentuated by sound effects.



4. Video is needed for advertising on Facebook


On Facebook, promotional videos play by default without sound. According to statistics , 85% of viewers do not even press the “turn on sound” button. For advertising on Facebook, with this in mind, you can do without a voice.

In a series of video banners about the game Guild of Heroes, which was planned to be placed on advertising networks, including Facebook, it was done just like that - both in 30-second and in shortened versions of videos.



And if you’re making a video for the App Store or Google Play, you may find these recommendations useful .

And yet: with or without a voice?


Waiver of voice acting may seem like a good way to reduce the cost and speed up video production. But in the long run - if you want to add a voice to the video after the animation is ready - such a decision can result in unexpected troubles and costs, incomparable with the initial savings. Why is that?

You will have to “fit” the text of the voice acting under the duration of the video sequence and carefully monitor the correspondence “what are we talking about” and “what are we showing”. Yes, even the banal feeling that music somehow does not combine with the speaker’s voice in timbre or pitch can make you change artists over and over again or change music. In new music, most likely, there will be a different rhythm, which means that the animation will go into disorder with it. And so that everything in the frame again “danced” to the music, you have to ... rebuild the animation.

If you are in doubt whether voice-over is needed in the video or not, here is our advice: initially make a video with a voice. Write a text, record a speaker, pick up music to your voice. In a word - embroider the voice acting in the DNA of the video. And then, if necessary, just turn off the voice in one of the variations. Here are

some tips for writing voiceovers .

about the author


Article written in Alconost . We have been creating advertising and educational videos for 8 years , including trailers, teasers and prerolls for mobile applications and games. The videos in this article are examples of our work. We will be happy to make a cool video about your game: write to video@alconost.com. We also localize applications , games and services in 70+ languages.

Read more: alconost.com

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