Metal Gear Solid Voice Actress Reveals Meager Pay for Role

Jennifer Hale wants video game voice actors to earn residuals.

A well-known voice actress revealed her pay for her role in the video game Metal Gear Solid which sold millions in the 90s.

Veteran voice actress Jennifer Hale has revealed that she was paid $1,200 for her role as Naomi Hunter in the original 1998 game Metal Gear Solid. This was confirmed on the My Perfect Console podcast while she shared her desire for video game voice actors to earn residuals.

Way back in 2011, Hale stated in a New Yorker article that the game made $270 million, but in the podcast, she said a different number. “the figure I heard actually was $176 million.” The original game did sell more than 7 million copies worldwide and is considered a monumental success that launched the popular franchise that is still going strong 25 years later.

Hale’s comparison of her alleged payment and the success of Metal Gear Solid is “indicative of what’s happening in modern culture,” she said. She also hopes that the standard for these payments will change in the future.

Here is what Hale would want to see changed: “Residuals for games on a flexible structure that honors the indie developers, that honors the budgets and capacities of teams. I would like to see that.”

Former News Editor