Bayonetta 3 has been making headlines once again over the past week, and while PlatinumGames has said everything is fine on its end, there's a new development that's got some fans worried.
In an exchange on Twitter, the character's voice actor, Hellena Taylor, told one of her "lovely" followers that they might have to get used to the idea of Bayonetta without her "amazing" voice.
When asked what exactly she meant by this, she said she was "not at liberty to say". Another fan said they couldn't wait to see her return, and she replied with the following tweet mentioning how she's "bound by a confidentiality clause".
Many others seem to think there's nothing to worry about if she's not able to elaborate (via r/Bayonetta):
u/LucaYo : "VAs usually will just say if they haven’t been contacted. The fact that she is bound by a confidentiality agreement kinda implies she IS returning for Bayo 3? Maybe she is just messing around in other replies."
Hellena is known for voicing Bayonetta in the first two games, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and also in the animated movie Bayonetta: Bloody Fate.
While nobody is entirely sure what her tweet means, it wouldn't be the first time we've seen a voice actor share something like this on social media. We've also seen past cases, such as Sonic's voice actor - who announced his time as the blue blur had come to an end only to reveal months later he would be returning to the role.
Do you think there's anything to be worried about here? Leave your own thoughts and theories down below.
Comments 62
Oh dear. She clearly doesn’t sound happy anyway.
oh. well. that's a bad sign.
Most voice acting in games drives me nuts, it's seldom very good, but it is good in Bayo and her voice is iconic. WOuld be very sad to lose her
That's a shame, she's great. Hope they're not killing the character off
Oo this should be spicy! Either that or she's pulling a fast one, in which case meh...
Troy Baker the new voice of Bayonetta.
@Rika_Yoshitake Jeanne is now voiced by Nolan North.
There has been A LOT of chatter from people involved with the series lately and I am so very discouraged.
Its just one thing after another isn't it.
@Rika_Yoshitake
You mean Laura Bailey?
Honestly can't imagine Bayonetta without Hellena Taylor. Her voice and mannerisms literally perfectly matched the design of the character and she's kind of a big reason why I like those games as much as I do
@sleepinglion that's exactly what i think is happening.
Bayonetta without Hellena Taylor isn't Bayonetta. there's a slight smokiness to her sultry voice that's not gonna be the easiest to duplicate, especially not with that deliciously deep pitch.
Hellena Taylor is Bayonetta, full stop.
What the hell is happening with this game??? Platinum say they want to share it but can't. The main actress is saying that she may not be involved moving forward. FFS Nintendo, just give us the game we all want. It genuinely seems like 17 years since it was first revealed.
Helena: Let’s go boys….!
Platinum / Nintendo: sssshush!
Shouldn’t you write voice actress?
@pgerhard The neutral term is also appropriate, and sometimes preferred.
I don't get why she makes such a comment, if she can't elaborate further? It just adds to the confusion and outrage surrounding the game.
I take that to mean something more like “something is going to happen to Bayonetta in the next game that could have an effect on the voice actor’s role”. After all, the trailer was pretty ominous with her apparent demise…
It’s got me wondering here.
I wonder if it’s more a political thing?
It is amazing how we the Internet can read so deeply into an offhand 5 word sentence.
No idea if she’s in Bayonetta 3, if Bayonetta will die, if they’ll be a Bayonetta 4, if Kamiya is going to shout so loudly at us all our eardrums will burst.
Not knowing makes the future more precious and enticing. Relax and enjoy the ride!
Ofcourse she is bound by contract not to talk about her role. That's only natural.
Didn't even know there was a movie, watching it now and it's pretty good.
Given Nintendo has skimped on voice acting in the new WarioWare (it's mostly text unlike the last game in the series) I wonder if they're doing the same here. Maybe they'll just rehash a few random words from older games and have text otherwise. 😕
@MrGawain Yeah, there's many conclusions one could draw from this statement. Bayonetta 3 could easily just be the last one they end up making.
What she means is she's done work for Bayonetta 3, but has heard nothing about a Bayonetta 4. Or they've told her it's the last game.
If, and I mean if, the game even exists there’s absolutely no reason for Nintendo not to show something…..they need software to keep the momentum going on Switch. After Metroid and Pokemon there’s nothing on the horizon……Splatoon 3 & the sequel to Breath Of The Wild could be months / years out.
@Inc you’re just inferring she means that, she hasn’t said that.
I think we'll see Bayo 3 during the next Direct.
By the time Bayo 4 is released we will all be so old we will have arthritis in out fingers and hands so wont be able to play it anyway. Bayo 3 has taken an absolute age to come out.
Either way its a a shame for the series.
Reminds me of when they changed voice actors for Solid Snake in MGSV. You can't just mess with iconic characters like that. Let's get Danny De Vito to voice Mario, while we are at it.
NINJA APPROVED (that last part)
Looking at all those comments this seems either a big mess or a clever marketing campaign. I mean, they know that people will ask them about the game and all their answers may be interpreted i a very positive manner or in the opposite. Still, there's a lot of talk around Bayonetta 3. Maybe they are being ambiguous on purpose?
@ItsJustAnotherGamer Bayonetta 3 was announced december 2017, that's almost 4 years ago now. A game development usually takes 4-6 years. So I don't think we'll can call it "development hell" right now. It's basically just still in development.
I have to wonder if this is just some contract negotiation thing. They don't record the voices too early in development in case they have to cut or change things, so it could about the right time for them to be doing the voice work.
Maybe Nintendo are trying to be cheap or maybe her agents are pushing for a raise. Either way I wonder if her agents asked her to tweet how much she loves the fans and then wait for a reply that says something about looking forward to her being in Bayonetta 3. Then she can say something enigmatic about not being in the game to get the fans shouting at Nintendo to help convince them to sign her up.
Anyway, if you're reading this Nintendo, get out the chequebook or I won't be buying the game.
Miyamoto probably said they should focus less on the story so now 3 is being rebooted with no VA and only toads as characters. Sexy toads though....
@sanderev
Games aren't announced when the first line of code is written though. Ad the fact that we haven't even seen gameplay yet doesn't inspire much confidence.
I think it's fair to say that B3 probably had a troubled development so far.
Simply put it makes sense... Considering how long we have to wait between each release the third Beyonetta is the last version we will all likely play... The fourth version is likely years and years away if it ever is even made..
@dimi
Is that a joke? The English audio is the original one...
lol I might be in the minority but while liking the game a lot, the worst part for me was always bayonetta and her oversexualized character and her stupid voice. I do understand where all of thats coming from, but that never made it click any better for me.
Its a shame as I feel like I'd missing out not playing B3 du to the whole crazy good action gameplay and the absolutela fantastic environments and enemies, but its so cringy and I can't play a game when using one hand facepalming all the time.
Actress...there is a difference.
@HalloHerrNoob Games are announced or teased in many states of development. And yes, some even before development started. So you don't know that.
Also Nintendo doesn't like showing off gameplay long before a game is released. And I am very happy about that tbh. And story trailers are just spoilers anyway.
And development hell is usually after 6-7 years or when the entire development team had to restart or is switched for another team. None of that seems to be the case here.
That's a shame, but from the teaser it did look like Bayonetta was a little...dead?
But it's not like she could say much anyway, I'm sure there are plenty of NDAs.
Either things haven't been going smoothly at Platinum Games.. Which has been in speculation lately. Or.. they're killing off her character.
She's probably trying to negotiate higher pay with her agency and Nintendo.
She's probably ready done Bayo 3 but wants to negotiate higher pay for future Bayo projects. Nothing to worry about...yet
@twztid13 Yeah, I had a feeling. Probably a noble sacrifice to end the trilogy
Strange, off the cuff reply by her there. The agent would surely advise not to say anything if negotiating? Or maybe there ia no Bayonetta 4? Who knows. Let's just play Bayo 3 eh....
@Synecdoche Despite the word often being used incorrectly by many people, the word "actor" still refers to a MALE theatrical performer/ one who takes part etc. The correct feminine form of the word is, and remains, an actress. In future, an easy way to tell if a word has become gender-neutral is to ask yourself a question involving that word (e.g. Who is that actor in that _____ movie?) and see if your automatic response is either to think of a male or female in that position, or if members of both genders immediately spring to mind.
@HamatoYoshi Yes. I believe that's what we were all doing? Speculating about what's really going on? I'm as in the dark as the rest of you.
It could be any number of reasons, it could be that she wants to be paid more, and thats being negotiated, it could also be something health related (I hope not) or it could mean she will be tied of with some other commitment that would be long term.
@valcoholic That's sad.
My theory is Nintendo are doing so well again with kiddie image crap that they don't want Bayonetta as an established Nintendo character. A witch whose hair is her clothes who has bondage and torture rack quick time events doesn't suit their style. Just a guess
@sirmrguitardude I seriously doubt that since Bayonetta is a Nintendo exclusive now and they bought the rights from Sega, and they allowed them to skimpify Nintendo outfits in Bayo 2. I mean, there were many interviews where Platinum said Nintendo didn't really downplay the sexualization much.
The game will still have voice acting right? I wonder what this means and how much does voice acting tie into game development.
Confidentiality clauses can extend beyond just one game. It's possible that due to the large number of Bayonetta's appearance in media, that she might be forced to sign a contract that extends beyond the games she is in for a certain number of years.
She may be bound for quite awhile on the issue if she is replaced.
So they went with someone new or are still in planning stages of the game. Yikes, everything we hear makes me think that this game is aimed at the next console's launch. They're running out of time with Switch.
So she dies at the end of Bayo 3 got it
@pgerhard cool thanks for the lesson dude
The fact Bayonetta's voice actress hasn't been contacted by Platinum yet really invokes some borderline alarmist speculation when you consider Bayonetta 3 has gone without a single update for 4 years. Would not be surprised if Bayonetta 3 winds up being the new Scalebound. It's worth mentioning Scalebound was shown at a gameplay level, too, and, in 4 years, Bayonetta 3 has nothing.
Since she gets split in half in the reveal trailer, it is possible Bayonetta doesn't survive the game, and Jeanne takes over.
@ivory_soul Yeah I remember reading about a Bayo advert in playboy when the wii u was bombing. They called BOTW Zelda Wii u and showed us super early footage. I think they were desperate and trying new things to beat the wii image of grandma can play wii bowling. But now I think they don't want Bayo in her current style at their multi billion dollar theme parks. At least not highly sexualized, and do you think that giant boobed sex bot from Xenoblade 2 will be plastered all over America's Nintendo Land? I don't
I have faith in the new VA but if Hellena is able to reprise her role it would be great too, whatever happens I hope the games story is as cool as the previous games!
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