Troy Baker has apologized for a controversial Twitter post in which he announced a partnership with an NFT company, before being dismissive of critics of non-fungible tokens. The Last of Us voice actor has said that he will now no longer work with VoiceverseNFT after “careful consideration.”
Troy Baker NFT Twitter controversy explained
Voice actor Baker, who is most known for his work as Joel in Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us and its sequel, previously tweeted his support for VoiceVerseNFT, a company that ostensibly allows users to purchase ‘Voice NFTs’ that they can theoretically use in different games.
Baker tweeted that the platform would “allow everyone a chance to own and invest in the IPs they create,” before concluding: “You can hate. Or you can create. What’ll it be?”
With NFTs being roundly criticized for the environmental damage they cause, and VoiceverseNFT specifically coming under fire for using voice lines from another service without permission, Troy has now stepped away from his partnership with the program.
In a tweet, Baker said that “intentions aside” he had heard his critics and apologized for accusing them of “hating” by disagreeing with him:
Thank you all for your feedback and patience. After careful consideration, I’ve decided to not continue the partnership with VoiceVerseNFT. Intentions aside, I’ve heard you and apologize for accusing anyone of “hating” just by simply disagreeing with me.
— Troy Baker (@TroyBakerVA) January 31, 2022
Voiceverse NFT responded to Troy Baker’s comment, saying that it had “mutually decided” to end the partnership with the voice actor. Additionally, Voiceverse said it would “double-down” and its resources to execute its roadmap and strengthen its community along with the “broader NFT ecosystem.”
We have mutually decided to end our partnership with Troy Baker, and will double-down our resources and efforts to execute on our roadmap, further our vision as the voice of Web3.0, and strengthen our community as well as the broader NFT ecosystem.
— Voiceverse ? (@TheVoiceverse) January 31, 2022
Baker’s comments were widely criticized after he posted the initial tweet, with many accusing him of being condescending by seemingly labeling all critics of NFTs as simply looking to “hate” the technology.
Shortly after the tweet went viral for all the wrong reasons, Baker appeared on the podcast Play, Watch, Listen alongside Santa Monica Studio’s Alanah Pearce and Thomas Was Alone creator Mike Bithell — who are both opposed to NFTs — where they discussed the fallout to the tweet and how his intention was to instead be “inspiring” about the platform.
In other news, a PS5 version of Cyberpunk 2077 has been spotted on PSN. Hogwarts Legacy is also reportedly set for a September 2022 release date, according to a new leak.
