How to find voice acting work for indie games
Indie game voice work mostly gets posted on casting sites like Casting Call Club, on IndieGuild, in the PAID work posts on r/VoiceActing, on r/gameDevClassifieds and r/INAT, in the Audio category on Work With Indies, around itch.io game jams, and on marketplaces like Voice123 and Fiverr. Whether you record in a closet with a USB mic or you already have a treated booth, it's the same handful of places. What changes is which ones are worth your time.
I founded IndieGuild, so keep that in mind when I talk about it. I've tried to be fair to everyone here, because each of these is the right pick for somebody.
- Just starting? Casting Call Club is free to join and audition, and has a whole page of video game roles.
- Want paid indie roles? Filter for paid projects on Casting Call Club, and watch the PAID work posts on r/VoiceActing and the [PAID] posts on r/gameDevClassifieds.
- Make a game reel. Several distinct characters and a few efforts, in about a minute.
- Fix your room before you buy a fancier mic. Clean audio is what devs notice first.
- Get usage and AI terms in writing, union or not.
- Let devs come to you. Make a free IndieGuild profile with your voice clips on the page, and roles that fit you land in your inbox.
| Where | Better pick when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| IndieGuild | You want indie devs to hear your voice clips right on your profile, and voice roles that fit you sent to your inbox, for free. | It's new, so there are fewer roles than on the big boards. |
| Casting Call Club | You want lots of indie game, visual novel and animation auditions, free to join and audition. | A mix of paid, unpaid and fan projects, so read each post for pay and usage. |
| r/VoiceActing | You want feedback on your demo, plus casting calls flaired PAID work, some of them games. | It's mostly a community for advice and feedback, so casting calls are a small part of it. |
| r/gameDevClassifieds | You want paid gigs straight from game devs, and a free [FOR HIRE] post of your own. | Voice posts are much rarer there than art or programming posts. |
| r/INAT | You'll do rev share or hobby work for credits, and want to answer Audio Needed posts. | Most roles are unpaid, and lots of projects never finish. |
| itch.io jams | You want a finished game with your voice in it, fast. | Jam teams are short-term and usually unpaid. |
| Voice123 | You want a voice-over marketplace where clients invite you to jobs, games included. | You need an active membership to get job invitations, and there's no open job list to browse. |
| Fiverr | You want to sell fixed-price voice packages to devs who browse its Video game voice over category. | Fees, and a lot of competition on price. |
Where game voice work gets posted
Here's what each place is actually like for a voice actor, and how to use it.
IndieGuild
This one's mine. You make a free profile where your voice clips play right on the page, with your rates up front and tags like "Rev share OK" or "Hobby projects OK" if you're open to them. Devs browse creators by craft and genre on Discover, or use Find my match, and the Gameplay studio lets them hear your clips over their own gameplay. Every role on the Job board shows the pay type up front, and when one fits you, it lands in your inbox. Portfolio work has to be human-made, so there are no AI-generated voices on anyone's profile. It's free, I don't take a cut, and nobody can pay to be seen first.
Casting Call Club
Casting Call Club is a casting site for indie animation, games, audio dramas and more. Its FAQ says "Joining, auditioning and posting projects are all free," and the optional premium membership on its pricing page isn't needed to audition or get cast. There's a page just for video game voice acting jobs, covering indie games, mods and game trailers. You record your audition at home and send it in.
Two things in their FAQ I really like: "nobody should ever ask you to pay to audition," and projects that collect voices to train AI aren't allowed. Posts range from paid indie games to unpaid fan projects, so check the pay and usage on each one before you record.
r/VoiceActing
r/VoiceActing is mostly advice, discussion and feedback, with flairs like Demo feedback and Performance Feedback, so it's a great place to get notes on your reel. Casting calls go under the PAID work flair, and some of those are for games, like visual novels and indie titles. Fandubs have their own flair marked Friday thread only. Read the rules before you post.
r/gameDevClassifieds and r/INAT
On r/gameDevClassifieds, game devs post paid roles, and voice actors post their own [FOR HIRE] threads under the Writer | Voice Actor flair. Voice posts are a lot rarer there than art and programming ones, so make yours count: a link to your game reel, the kinds of characters you do, your rates and how fast you turn lines around.
On r/INAT (I Need A Team), teams that need voices post under Audio Needed, and you can post under Audio Offer. Most say [RevShare] or [Hobby] in the title, so think of it as a place for credits more than income.
Work With Indies
Work With Indies is a job board just for indie games. Voice roles show up in its Audio category now and then. When I checked, there was a voice actor role for an indie game next to a couple of sound design roles. It's a small category, so check it weekly.
Voice123 and Fiverr
Voice123 is a voice-over marketplace with a Video Game Voice Actors category, and it works differently from a casting board. Its plans page says you need an active Voice123 membership to access job invitations, and "There are no open job lists to search and apply for." The same page says Voice123 doesn't take a percentage of the jobs you book. Its categories go well beyond games, into things like e-learning, explainers and commercials, so it fits best if you do those too.
On Fiverr, you sell fixed-price voice packages, and devs browse its Video game voice over category. Fiverr says freelancers receive 80% of the client's cleared payment, so build that into your price.
Jams, Bluesky and X
Most itch.io jams have a community tab where teams post the roles they need. Story-heavy jams, like visual novel jams, are a natural fit for voice. A small role in a jam game gives you a credit, a clip for your reel and a dev who's heard you deliver. On IndieGuild, tap "I'm in" on a jam with Jam Crew so teams can find you. On Bluesky and X, search "casting call" with "game" or "visual novel", or "looking for voice actors", and sort by latest.
What a game demo reel should have
A commercial or narration reel won't land you a game role. Devs want to hear characters. Keep a separate game reel:
- Your strongest character first. That's the one everybody hears.
- Several distinct characters. A hero, a villain, a creature, a shopkeeper or quest giver. Make each one clearly different in pitch, pace and attitude.
- Efforts and barks. A battle cry, a hit, a death, a quick "Over here!" Games use a lot of these, and devs listen for them.
- Lines you wrote yourself. Skip redoing famous game characters, so it's clear what's yours.
- Short. G.A.N.G.'s voice-over Demo Derby, where a panel of game audio experts gives feedback on demos, only plays the first minute of each one. That's a good target for yours.
- A dry clip on hand. A plain read with no music or effects, so a dev can hear your actual room.
Light sound design behind your reel is fine, as long as the voice sits clearly on top. On IndieGuild, your clips play right on your profile, and devs can hear them over a clip of their own game in the Gameplay studio.
Home studio basics
You don't need a fancy booth to start, but you do need clean audio. Echo, hum and background noise are the first things a dev hears, and they mean cleanup on their end.
- Room first. Pick the quietest spot you have, away from fridges, fans and windows, and surround yourself with soft stuff. A closet full of clothes, moving blankets and pillows all help.
- A decent mic. A good USB mic is fine to start. Later, an XLR mic and an audio interface give you more room to grow. Spend on the room before the mic.
- A pop filter and closed-back headphones, so you catch noise and popping sounds while you record, not after.
- Recording software. Audacity is a free, open source audio editor and recorder, and it's plenty for auditions. Any DAW you already know works too.
- A noise check. Record a few seconds of silence, turn your headphones up and listen. If you hear hum, a fan or traffic, fix that before anything else.
- Delivery the dev's way. Often that's one WAV file per line, named the way their brief says. Follow their naming to the letter.
Union or non-union?
If you're in the US, the actors' union is SAG-AFTRA, and it matters for games in two ways.
- Members work under union contracts. SAG-AFTRA's Global Rule One page puts it simply: "a SAG-AFTRA member must always work under a union contract around the globe." So once you're a member, the dev needs to have signed a SAG-AFTRA agreement for you to take the role.
- There's a contract made for indie games. SAG-AFTRA's Tiered-Budget Independent Interactive Media Agreement is for indie games with budgets from $250,000 to $30 million, and SAG-AFTRA says it includes A.I. protections for voice and movement performance.
If you're not in a union, you can take any project, so the protections are up to you. Get pay, usage, retakes and AI terms in writing every time. If you're outside the US, check with your own country's performers' union. And if you're union or thinking about joining, ask the dev early whether they're a signatory, before you spend time on an audition.
From first auditions to steady game work
- Audition often, and follow the brief exactly. The lines they asked for, the file name they asked for, on time. That alone puts you ahead.
- Start with visual novels and jam games. They show up a lot on Casting Call Club, and they're story-heavy, so you get real acting for your reel.
- Keep a credits list with the game, your character and a link to the game's page.
- Be easy to rebook. Fast turnaround, clean files and good humor about retakes within the agreed amount. Devs remember that for their next game.
- Know your rates. Voice actors usually price per line, per word, or per hour or session. The GVAA Rate Guide is a free reference for voice-over rates, and here's how voice acting for games is usually priced.
- Pitch games you'd love to voice. My guide to pitching a game dev has a first message you can adapt.
Red flags
- Paying to audition. Casting Call Club's FAQ says it plainly: "nobody should ever ask you to pay to audition."
- Vague about AI. Ask for a written promise that your recordings won't be used to train AI or make a synthetic copy of your voice without your consent.
- A whole script as the audition. An audition is a few lines. A full scene for free is the job.
- No usage terms. Write down where your recordings can go: the game, trailers, store pages, DLC and sequels.
- Surprise efforts. A hundred screams at the end of a session is hard on your voice. Ask how many efforts and barks there are before you agree.
Devs are told the same things. My guide for devs hiring a voice actor asks them to count lines and efforts up front, and to put usage and AI terms in writing. If a dev hasn't, it's fair to ask.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I find voice acting work for indie games?
The main places are casting sites like Casting Call Club, IndieGuild, the PAID work posts on r/VoiceActing, r/gameDevClassifieds for paid gigs, r/INAT for rev share and hobby teams, the Audio category on Work With Indies, itch.io game jams, and marketplaces like Voice123 and Fiverr.
How do I get voice acting work with no experience?
Make a short game reel with a few distinct characters and some efforts, then audition often on Casting Call Club and join itch.io game jams that need voices. Visual novels and jam games make great first credits. Make a free profile on IndieGuild with your voice clips on the page so devs can find you.
What should a video game voice demo reel include?
About a minute of distinct characters, such as a hero, a villain, a creature and a shopkeeper, plus a few efforts and barks like a battle cry or a death. Lead with your strongest voice, use lines you wrote yourself, and keep a dry, unprocessed clip ready so devs can hear your room.
What equipment do I need to voice act from home?
A quiet room with soft things around you matters most. Then a decent USB mic, or an XLR mic with an audio interface, plus a pop filter, closed-back headphones and recording software. Audacity is free and is plenty for auditions.
Do I need to be in a union to voice act in indie games?
No. You don't need to be in a union to join and audition on casting sites like Casting Call Club, or to make a profile on IndieGuild. If you're a SAG-AFTRA member, its Global Rule One means you work under a union contract, so ask the dev early whether they've signed a SAG-AFTRA agreement, such as its Tiered-Budget Independent Interactive Media Agreement for indie games.
Is IndieGuild free for voice actors?
Yes. Making a profile is free, and I don't take a cut of your gigs. You and the dev agree on pay and rights directly.
Let devs find you
Make a free profile with your voice clips on the page, your rates up front, and tags like "Rev share OK" or "Hobby projects OK" if you're open to them. When a dev posts a voice role that fits you, it lands in your inbox. It's free, and I don't take a cut of your gigs.
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- How to find a voice actor for your indie game