Geralt’s voice actor had no idea The Witcher 3 would be such a behemoth because “nobody knew or cared” about the first two RPGs
Doug Cockle, the smokey voice behind Geralt of Rivia, never expected The Witcher series to blow up and become the cultural force it is today.
Before landing the lead role in CD Projekt Red’s first Witcher RPG – itself an adaptation of a fantasy series of novels that weren’t too popular outside of Poland – Cockle’s video game experience was limited to smaller characters in RuneScape, TimeSplitters 2, and the iconic role of ‘Additional Voices’ in Perfect Dark Zero.
When he first stepped into the recording booth for Geralt, “nobody knew or cared really,” Cockle says in an interview with The Guardian. “[The Witcher] was a cult game. Until suddenly, it wasn’t. Right up until about six months after Witcher 3 came out, I still didn’t have a clue how big the game had become.”
That’s not just a matter of opinion either. The Witcher 2 sold around 8 million copies in its first three years on shelves, while The Witcher 3 matched those numbers in a matter of months and has since moved a monstrous 50 million copies. Big difference, right?
Cockle’s take on the monster slayer is now (almost) just as famous, too, with the live-action Netflix show’s rendition largely aping his brooding voice and gruff inflections. Cockle is so memorable in the role that he’s set to pick the dual swords back up in the upcoming animated series, The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep.
The more pressing question for long-time fans is whether Cockle’s voice will crack over The Witcher 4, which currently has “over 400” developers working on it. Last we heard, Cockle repeatedly said he had “no idea” what the new Witcher trilogy would be about before guessing that world-hopping ward Ciri would step into the spotlight.