Honkai: Star Rail developer HoYoverse has yet to name the new voice actors.
Honkai: Star Rail Version 3.3 “The Fall at Dawn's Rise” dropped on Wednesday (21 May) with two new 5-star characters in Hyacine and Cipher, as well as tons of other additions. However, the update also featured a surprising change as the voice actors for the game's main protagonist, the Trailblazer, have been replaced.
In Honkai: Star Rail, players embark on an interstellar journey as the male or female version of the Trailblazer, commonly known by their canon names “Caelus” and “Stelle” respectively. Since the game's launch in April 2023, the Trailblazer had been voiced by Caleb Yen (Caelus) and Rachael Chau (Stelle).
But in Version 3.3, Honkai: Star Rail developer HoYoverse revealed in an official blog post on HoYoLAB that it has replaced the voice actors for Caelus and Stelle.
"When the voice language is set to English, the voice actors for the characters "Trailblazer (Male)" and "Trailblazer (Female)" have been adjusted," HoYoverse said in the Version 3.3 update details.
The new voice actors were used for the Trailblazer's voice lines in the Trailblaze Missions released in Version 3.3, the “As I've Written” story mechanic, and the battle voice lines for the Trailblazer's Remembrance version. The old voice actors are still used for the Trailblazer's Destruction, Preservation, and Harmony versions as well as in all other dialogue prior to the release of Version 3.3. HoYoverse also added that “other relevant audio assets will be updated in the future".
The NPCs "Lipos," "Young Phainon," "'Spirithief' Bartholos," and “King Eurypon” also saw their voice actors get changed.
The new voice actors for Caelus and Stelle have yet to be revealed, and there has been no indication from HoYoverse so far on whether the change will be permanent. Caleb Yen and Rachael Chau have yet to issue statements on their apparent removal from their roles as well.
Why did the voice actors for the Trailblazer get replaced?
While HoYoverse has yet to issue an official statement to explain why the voice actors for the Trailblazer have been replaced, it is likely a consequence of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) strike against HoYoverse games.
Since late 2024, HoYoverse games such as Honkai: Star Rail, Genshin Impact, and Zenless Zone Zero have seen many of their United States-based voice actors withhold from work in an apparent stand against the use of AI in voice acting in video games and other media. Despite multiple voice actors withholding their services, HoYoverse continued to release updates to their games, though it did so with many characters going unvoiced.
While the communities surrounding HoYoverse's games were largely receptive and supportive of the strike during its early period, things came to a head when a new voice actor was introduced for the role of the Genshin Impact character Kinich in late March. The new voice actor for Kinich, Jacob Takanashi, confirmed his casting in a post on his personal X account, saying that he is “grateful for the opportunity to carry the flame from the previous flamebearer, John, who did an incredible job.”
However, other Genshin Impact voice actors such as Corina Boettger (Paimon), Kayli Mills (Keqing), and Valeria Rodriguez (Sucrose) decried Takanashi’s casting, even calling him a “scab”. In the context of a strike, “scab” is a derogatory term for a worker who crosses a picket line to work, essentially undermining the strike and the striking workers’ efforts.
The term doesn't exactly apply to Takanashi, however, as the voice actor is based in Japan whereas SAG-AFTRA is an American union. And with the revelation that Genshin Impact, and other HoYovers games, aren't union titles and should not have been part of the strike, many within the Genshin Impact community have turned against the strike.
The belligerence of some of the voice actors towards their peers who have no involvement with it, and to the players still playing the struck titles, also earned the ire of many Genshin Impact players. The communities in the other HoYoverse games have also followed suit, though many lament the fact that some of their favourite voice actors could be affected by the situation. A post on the official Honkai: Star Rail subreddit revealing that the voice actors for the Trailblazer have been replaced saw many community members voice their displeasure.
With the SAG-AFTRA strike against HoYoverse titles still unresolved over half a year since it began, it is likely that the developer has made the unfortunate decision to replace the voice actors still withholding their work in order to maintain their games' production quality.
