Baker Has Since Apologised Due to Negative Backlash
Back on January 13, 2021, Troy Baker, the voice behind many of the iconic voices in video games announced that he would be taking part in an NFT partnership. Baker, who is known for his roles as Joel from Last of Us, Samuel in Uncharted, Booker DeWitt in BioShock Infinite, among many others, had planned to partner with VoiceVerseNFT to release various voice clips that people could, at least, pretend to own for themselves.
Understandably, fans were very upset with Baker’s choice and were very vocal about this decision. Some of the Tweets that came from this were sarcastic, vicious, and at times, funny. At first, on Friday, January 14th, 2021, he admitted that the tag line “hate or create” might have been a little much: “The “hate/create” part might have been a bit antagonistic…Hope y’all will forgive me for that. Bad attempt to bring levity. ”
But the anger and the comments on Baker’s choice did not end. So on Monday, January 31, 2021, Baker announced via Twitter that he will no longer be going through his partnership with VoiceVerseNFT.
“Thank you all for your feedback and patience. After careful consideration, I’ve decided to not continue the partnership with VoiceVerseNFT. Intentions aside, I’ve heard you and apologize for accusing anyone of “hating” just by simply disagreeing with me.”
Thank you all for your feedback and patience. After careful consideration, I’ve decided to not continue the partnership with VoiceVerseNFT. Intentions aside, I’ve heard you and apologize for accusing anyone of “hating” just by simply disagreeing with me.
— Troy Baker (@TroyBakerVA) January 31, 2022
So while it may have been in part due to fan backlash, it could also have to do with his professional contacts as well- and some of the other reactions to people in the industry. Baker is part of the podcast Play, Watch, Listen with Mike Bithell, Alanah Pearce, and Austin Wintory. All three are known for their anti-NFT stance in the industry, and in fact, had released a podcast episode talking with Baker on the subject matter.
So it may not have been just fan backlash, but conversation and information. We can only hope others may learn from this, as Baker did, eventually.