Naughty Dog Casts Troy Baker to Star in Untitled Next PS5 Game

What year is it?!

In news that might at first sound like a parody, developer Naughty Dog has cast The Last of Us lead, Troy Baker, in its untitled next PS5 game. Baker, who famously played grizzled dad Joel Miller in PlayStation's premiere series, was a natural pick, says Naughty Dog chief Neil Druckmann: "In a heartbeat, I would always work with Troy."

The news of the handsome leading man's casting comes to us from GQ, the leading handsome man magazine (thanks, IGN). The article is ostensibly about Baker taking on Harrison Ford's mantle as Indiana Jones, but there are a few brief asides. Having worked closely together for years, and with Baker being one of the video game industry's most prolific talents, it's apparently a natural choice, even if it does seem at odds with Druckmann's pledge not to be "the Last of Us studio" forever.

Related Articles

News Naughty Dog Won't Be 'The Last of Us Studio Forever', Says Neil Druckmann

Multiple single player games being made

Are you glad to see Troy Baker return once more to the Dog House, reunited with Neil Druckmann for some emotional storytelling? Party like it's 2013 in the comments section below.

[source gq-magazine.co.uk]

• Share:
• 0

• 1
• 26

About Khayl Adam

Khayl Adam is Push Square's roving Australian correspondent, a reporter tasked with scouring the internet for the richest, most succulent PlayStation stories. With five years of experience as a freelance journalist and mercenary wordsmith, RPGs are his first great love, but strategy and tactics games are a close second, genres in which he is only too happy to specialize.

• Author Profile
• Twitter/X
• Reply

Comments 26

• 1
• Michael2008ish
• 4:02am

Read an interview with him earlier. Head Too Big. You have no creative input. You are a voice over.

• 6

• 2
• breakneck
• 4:04am

People may dislike them but Baker and Nolan actually have range as voice actors unlike a lot of the current favorites (Ben Starr a recent actor with zero range beyond Clive/generic angry brit man voice)

• 5

• 3
• MeanBeanEgg
• 4:07am

I'm excited for the new game. As for Troy, I don't really care about much voice actors, as long as it's well done i'm good, I rarely know who voices who because I don't really pay attention to that. Oh, and for TLOU, I don't even associate Troy's voice with Joel because I play PlayStation exclusives dubbed in Portuguese.

• 1

• 4
• breakneck
• 4:09am

@MeanBeanEgg same! I cannot wait to see what ND have been working on!

• 1

• 5
• LimitedPower
• 4:16am

@Michael2008ish Actors often collaborate with directors/writers/etc to shape their characters, dialogue, and even the overall story. That’s creative input, baby!

• 7

• 6
• Jayslow
• 4:21am

You can hate or you can create.

• 2

• 7
• Michael2008ish
• 4:25am

@LimitedPower Nah I don't accept that with gaming voice-overs. All the work has been done on the games, voice-overs are at the last stage of development

• 3

• 8
• Enuo
• 4:28am

@Michael2008ish Voice overs happen very early in development so animators have a reference point. Dubbing is later in development.

• 10

• 9
• Michael2008ish
• 4:32am

@Enuo Really? Give me an example.

• 0

• 10
• OmegaStriver
• 4:35am

Im guessing a TLoU prequel that will show Joel in a very bad light based hints about his past.

• 0

• 11
• PuppetMaster
• 4:35am

I would be suprise if Druckman didn't hired Troy again considering ND games with Troy voices (TloU 1 & 2 and Uncharted 4 & Lost Legacy) did really well.

But i wonder if Druckman gonna hire Nolan North too...

• 0

• 12
• Michael2008ish
• 4:38am

Personally I'd like TLOU 3, but I think they would have marketed it more if it was.

• 0

• 13
• Michael2008ish
• 4:43am

And the best gaming actor imo was Tim Curry in Command and Conquer. Best mad Russian ever 😉

• 0

• 14
• Enuo
• 4:54am

@Michael2008ish That's literally how animation is done. Reference material saves time and labor for developers. That's why they get it early.

• 4

• 15
• Nepp67
• 5:01am

@breakneck Nolan is fine, but Troy, God that guy REALLY loves to smell his own farts. I agree though that Nolan and Troy have incredible in their voice that I think some actors could learn from.

• 3

• 16
• Ravix
• 5:20am

@Michael2008ish pretty sure you're taking the mick, but just in case you are being serious, here's quite a good example 😅

https://youtu.be/LH18nGoIUKo?si=GSaiDc2Ci-_Hwgsu

• 0

• 17
• LimitedPower
• 5:31am

@Michael2008ish Motion capture bro. Brain too small

• 2

• 18
• Vivisapprentice
• 5:39am

The Last of Us Part 3: Joel Returns

• 1

• 19
• nessisonett
• 5:59am

@breakneck Bit rich to say Ben Starr has zero range when he’s had far more notable live action acting breakthroughs than Troy Baker. Voice acting is an artform but Ben Starr is a more well-rounded actor outside of just voice acting and that’s plain fact.

• 2

• 20
• Northern_munkey
• 6:04am

Please no more emotional,heart string tugging games. Can't we just have an action driven adventure game. I'd love another uncharted style game set in space with trading elements. Enough of the touchy feely tosh...

• 2

• 21
• oahusurfmonk
• 6:11am

Funny. A guy in this thread said that voice actors don’t matter, then went on to name his favorite example of a voice actor.

• 1

• 22
• Oz_Who_Dat_Dare
• 6:33am

@Enuo Seriously...there are other actors that can be employed - and let's face it, Troy has enough exposure already. I want to see other VO actors step up.

• 2

• 23
• Oz_Who_Dat_Dare
• 6:37am

@Enuo no... it doesn't happen early in development. The game-engine/flow is developed first, then the basic story/cut enviornments... they don't worry about the script/VO until they know they've got a game.. that's well into production. Especially as the story is often play-tested. The story, VO, environments are developed towards the back half of the development. Yes, it is necessary for the character animation perspective, but that's also done reasonably late (because it's otherwise there's a lot of risk of wasted effort/expense). So they block out representative dialogue for a lot of it.

• 1

• 24
• Frmknst
• 49m ago

Uhh.. but not casted only right now? Because then the project is years away since ND is that rare studio that works with the actors from the beginning and not just sone awful "voice over" like 99% out there

• 0

• 25
• nomither6
• 34m ago

@Northern_munkey and less cutscenes and walking simulators. more gameplay , more fiction & less realism please

• 0

• 26
• nomither6
• 33m ago

btw , the disrespect for VAs in some of these comments is crazy .

• 1

Show Comments

Leave A Comment

Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...