The upcoming hack-and-slash title is the latest talking point due to the original voice actress being underpaid (Images via PlatinumGames/Nintendo/SEGA)

"Beware of my rules": Hideki Kamiya responds to allegations from Hellena Taylor, leaving Bayonetta community upset

By Siddharth Patil

Modified Oct 15, 2022 19:14 GMT

The upcoming hack-and-slash offering, Bayonetta 3, has been a recent subject of controversy after the original voice actor, Hellena Taylor, was replaced. To add to the mess, the studio's key employee Hideki Kamiya recently took to Twitter to mitigate the damage after Taylor stepped up to elaborate on her absence. Now, new information has come to light, citing Platinum's pay of a meager 4,000 USD for her services as the reason behind her departure.

Among the things Hideki said in his tweet was this bit:

"By the way, BEWARE OF MY RULES."

神谷英樹 Hideki Kamiya

@PG_kamiya

Sad and deplorable about the attitude of untruth. That's what all I can tell now.

By the way, BEWARE OF MY RULES.

Before the emergence of the recent piece of news, fans had expressed concern over replacing the voice actress with Jennifer Hale. With the new information, they are even more upset and siding with Taylor.

Latest Bayonetta 3 controversy involving voice actress Hellena Taylor could affect game sales

Nicole Carpenter

@sweetpotatoes

Bayonetta’s original voice actor, Hellena Taylor, says she was offered $4K to voice the character in Bayonetta 3, which she turned down. She’s now asking fans to boycott the new game, which is scheduled for release later this month. twitter.com/hellenataylor/…

Hellena Taylor

@hellenataylor

Friends, Worldlings, Bayonutters. Hear ye!
#PlatinumGames #Nintendo #Bayonetta #Bayonetta3 #Bayonutters #Boycott #NintendoEurope #NintendoAmerica #NintendoJapan

After Taylor's four-part post addressing her fans to boycott the game to respect underpaid workers, Kamiya himself seems to have stirred the hornet's nest. His tweet hinted at Taylor's recent revelation as a form of lie, ending with "BEWARE OF MY RULES."

With that, he openly addressed the fact that any fans who dare bring up this controversy will be blocked right away. Yet gamers have begun to berate him despite his track record of blocking sprees.

8d6firedamage, a Humble Villainess 🏳️‍⚧️

@8d6firedamage1

@PG_kamiya "Beware of my rules"...

Sounds like a great director to work under.

ZTS | Valy

@valytarax

@PG_kamiya Pay your voice actors. Enjoy pressing that block button and I hope you sleep sound at night, sir.

Too Sharp Legend

@legendgaylol

@PG_kamiya Pay your voice actors better and maybe then people will respect you and your rules.

John C. Pedraza

@Sword_Garden

@PG_kamiya You can block people to avoid the truth but your studio offered a talented actress for a character, she did in two previous games that helped you sell a huge amount of copies, almost nothing in comparison with others in the industry for their experience. You should be ashamed.

Fans are sympathizing with Hellena Taylor and even advocating for her recasting, in addition to being serious about the boycott:

Suzi Hunter

@TheSphereHunter

Don't know about y'all but I wouldn't mind Bayonetta 3 getting pushed back a few more months while they rehire Hellena and actually pay her for her work. What Platinum really can't afford is to keep messing up like this. Seriously, what happened to them?

DreamcastGuy

@DreamcastGuy

I have cancelled my pre-order of Bayonetta 3. I will not be playing or supporting the game.

Lucaz

@Lucazz82

@hellenataylor To put it into perspective, $4000 is equivalent to 66 copies of Bayonetta 3. That's how much they think you're worth. Literally 66 copies.

Money that they'll make back in seconds because this game will go on to sell millions. I despise how this industry treats voice actors

Stealth

@Stealth40k

Will people boycott because she asked? Some might. People will always need to make their own decisions about what games to buy and not buy.

For a game like Bayonetta 3 that has been anticipated for years with the potential to sell at least 2m copies, this is disappointing.

Twitter users didn't drop the issue, commenting under a clearly deflective post about food from Hideki:

AelarynSFM🔞

@AelarynSFM

@PG_kamiya I'm surprised you can afford that since you can't afford to pay your VA.

B.New, the Deviant 🐝🎸

@PG_kamiya instead of tweeting how about you actually pay the voice actor
(you seriously you can just change topic like that)
twitter.com/hellenataylor/…

Hellena Taylor

@hellenataylor

Friends, Worldlings, Bayonutters. Hear ye!
#PlatinumGames #Nintendo #Bayonetta #Bayonetta3 #Bayonutters #Boycott #NintendoEurope #NintendoAmerica #NintendoJapan

mac👻

@yellowcapes

@PG_kamiya did you get this with the voice actor’s paycheck

Jules and the Big Ghoti Theory

@UncrownedJules

@PG_kamiya Wow. Didn't even take you a full hour to do the classic "people are clowning on me so I'll pretend I'm not actually being owned by posting food pics"

Flip

@FlipMayCryV

@PG_kamiya Whoa Hideki how did you get that? I though you would be living on instant noodles since you can't even pay your game's voice actors

Malachy570_Official

@MALACHY_Officia

@PG_kamiya I grew up playing Devil May Cry, love the franchise. But, seriously, pay your voice actors fairly. I get that you're just the director, but you could use your position to advocate for better pay for voice actors. L+Ratio

As expected, fans who are getting on his nerves are being blocked as well.

@PG_kamiya Lol

Since Hideki Kamiya is the respected game director behind iconic names like Devil May Cry and Okami, this turn of events is very disappointing for many. It is strange that the studio could not afford to offer Taylor a better pay; she has worked with it in the past. This is even more baffling considering the fact that Nintendo is footing the bill for this third entry, which is set to be a Nintendo Switch exclusive.

The Japanese gaming giant has hired world-renowned actors such as Chris Pratt and Jack Black for the upcoming Super Mario movie by Illumination. Perhaps Taylor's meager pay has something to do with Bayonetta's co-owner SEGA? Fans will just have to wait for an official response.

Overall, this is a bad situation for the studio's workforce as well. The title being exclusive to one platform is already expected to see fewer sales. And this controversy, with Taylor being underpaid and Kamiya's response to it, threatens sales for the game even further.

At this point in time, Bayonetta 3 is trending on Twitter, with many users fuming over the situation. As such, an official statement from publisher Nintendo is at least very likely to happen. Bayonetta 3 is set to release on October 28, 2022.

Edited by
Soumyadyuti Ghosh