The Expanse RPG to recast male lead after beta

OwlCat Games will replace the voice actor for the male protagonist and his twin J in The Expanse: Osiris Reborn after a closed beta held recently across platforms including PlayStation 5.

Players and testers reported that the two characters sounded too casual and sassy for hardened mercenaries and that using the same actor for both voices made the characters feel less distinct. Several players also flagged the game’s writing as quippier than the tone of the original novels and television adaptation.

On the game’s official Steam page, OwlCat wrote: “While the voice actor for the male protagonist and J put in a lot of good work, they felt less expressive than we wanted. Because of this, we are changing the voices of the male protagonist and J.”

The studio said it will also refine character animations, including facial work, and smooth the game’s overall tone to better match the source material.

A reviewer who played the beta on PS5 described the female protagonist’s voice as mostly acceptable but called the male performance distracting enough to pull them out of the experience several times. The reviewer suggested the issue resembled a miscast or poor direction rather than a lack of talent.

OwlCat released the beta to gather player impressions on voice acting, animations and combat. Early reactions praised the cover-based combat and the potential of adapting The Expanse into a role-playing game while highlighting areas players want the studio to address.

The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is scheduled to launch next year. OwlCat has not named replacement actors or provided a timeline for new voice recordings.