Xbox Living

Michael Hollick, the voice behind Niko Bellic in Grand Theft Auto IV, is speaking out about his lack of royalties from the hit game.

The New York Times reported that he was paid about $100,000 for his work on the game, which lasted a little more than a year. Hollick did both the voice acting and motion capture work for Niko’s character. He’s now upset that he’s not getting royalties for the success of the game.

“The first GTA IV trailer generated something like 40 million hits online, and that’s my voice all over it, and I get nothing,” Hollick said. “If that were a radio spot, I would have. Same thing for the TV ads.”

I can certainly understand the point here. Television and movie actors get paid royalties for the success of their films in various formats — why shouldn’t a video game actor get the same type of arrangement?

“I don’t blame Rockstar. I blame our union for not having the agreements in place to protect the creative people who drive the sales of these games.”

Hollick puts the weight of a game’s success largely on the performances within it, in this case his potrayal of Niko Bellic. The opposing camp says that more credit goes to the game’s developers and creative directors, diminishing the role of voice work.

Word is that the actors’ guild is preparing to push for more royalties on Internet content and other forms of media in upcoming talks, which may lead to another strike in the entertainment industry. Maybe job action like this will help video game actors get their cut of a game’s profits?

I’m not sure about this one. While it would be more fair for Mr. Hollick to get his cut when you compare him to other actors, $100,000 isn’t a number to balk at, especially when you’re an unknown actor looking to step into the light. I was going to say that he should have gotten better terms in writing before he started, but chances are that Rockstar would have found someone else.

So what do you think? Whiny, or a good principle?