Interviews with Blizzard Sound and Voice Actors
Two interviews focus on the audio side of Diablo III, and the new expansion

The first interview is at The Frontliner, with four members of Blizzard's audio team:
- Russell Brower – Senior Director Of Audio
- Derek Duke – Project Music Director/Composer
- Joseph Lawrence – Lead Sound Designer
- Andrea Toyias – Casting & Voice Director
Andrea Toyias: Diablo III was by far Blizzard’s largest VO undertaking for two main reasons. First, there was the sheer expanse of lines. We introduced 10 new hero characters — five classes with male and female versions of each — who all had myriad of comments as they reacted to the world and the characters that surrounded them. To give you an idea what that means, the StarCraft chapters tend to have around 3,000 lines. Each World of Warcraft expansion has approximately 6,000 to 8,000 lines. For Diablo III, we were upwards of the 18,000 mark — so it was quite an experience.
The second reason for the extensive line count is that the writers spent a great amount of time thinking about how each hero would interact with the environment and the story. With such detailed individualism for our heroes comes a lot of in-depth commentary and reactions from each one of them. With a smaller or more limited line count, it would have been much harder to really explore why, for example, the Demon Hunters are so determined to eradicate evil or why the Witch Doctors had a more holistic response to the same evil. Thorough character development means more time needs to be spent investigating and playing with our heroes personalities. Recording over 18,000 lines was intense . . . but it was an amazing journey.
Another interview was conducted by BlizzPro, and featured in a Blizzard Blog. It includes talking to the actors who performed the voice overs for the male and female Crusaders, in the expansion. Here's the info on that:
Like chaff before the wind!
Twizz from BlizzPro recently had the opportunity to sit down with some of the individuals involved in creating the voice for the new Crusader class in Reaper of Soulsâ„¢. His guest list included:
- Brian Kindregan, Lead Writer, Diablo III: Reaper of Souls
- Andrea Toyias, Casting & VO Director
- Gideon Emery, Voice Actor [Male Crusader]
- Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Voice Actor [Female Crusader]
The interview covers a wide range of topics from how the Diablo III writing team approached the new dialogue to what sort magic happens in the studio once those lines are in place. Brian, Andrea, Gideon, and Mary also wax genuinely about the casting, directing, and recording process for the Crusader, sharing some hilarious anecdotes and behind-the-scenes insights along the way. Oh, and there's something about the DAH AHLEAN in there, too. (Don't ask.)
Catch the full interview below, or head over to BlizzPro's official YouTube page.
Check out both interviews to learn more about the work done, to make these games sound great.