Doug Cockle Interview

Probably known as the voice of Geralt of Rivia in the English versions of The Witcher and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings by most here, Doug Cockle has been interviewed by RPGSite, with questions ranging from his background to the work he has done on CD Projekt’s games. If you’re interested in the games or just in voice acting this is a very worthy read. Here’s a snippet:

RPGSite: When were you first informed that a sequel was being developed and when did you start recording the dialogue?

Doug: I first heard about the possibility of The Witcher 2 in June or July 2009, I think; when I got called in to record some add on material for Witcher 1. I wasn’t sure at that time where it was at in development, but Borys [Pugacz-Muraszkiewicz] from CD Projekt talked with me about some of his thoughts for The Witcher 2. I remember thinking at the time that it would be a great game if it got made.

Recording for The Witcher 2 started in July 2010 when we recorded some teaser scenes, but we started recording the bulk of it in late September, 2010. It was a much bigger script and required a lot more time to record it. We finished pickups in March 2011. So the whole game took about six months to get the dialogue recorded.

RPGSite: Has the character of Geralt changed at all since the events of the first game and did you find that you were more comfortable in the role this time around?

Doug: I think Geralt has changed a little. Not too much though. He’s still the same sardonic hero, but we played a bit with his approach to some things this time around. I certainly felt comfortable in the role and I think that shows in how Geralt’s personality has developed in the games.

There was also a bit more room to explore how Geralt might respond to some things this time around. Kate Saxon, the director for most of the voice work in the game, worked closely with us to make sure we were hitting the right notes.

I think players will find that Geralt is pretty much the same, but maybe with a few more emotional levels this time around.

RPGSite: You mentioned that The Witcher 2 had a bigger script but just how much longer was it compared to that of the original?

Doug: The Witcher 2 script was much bigger than The Witcher 1. The writers have really tried to give the player a lot of choices so there are multiple potential outcomes to each event in the game. And the path you take depends on the choices you make, so each scene had to have several versions recorded to reflect the player choice.