Baldur’s Gate 3 star Neil Newbon teases his new game: “It's a really brilliant experience”

It's not often that I interview the same person multiple times in the same year, but Neil Newbon is just that busy.

Radio Times Gaming caught up with the iconic actor (who famously played Astarion in Baldur's Gate 3) to get the skinny about his new project, Starfinder: Afterlight, and a whole lot more.

You can watch the whole interview on our YouTube channel, or in the video player above, if you’re that way inclined.

And yes, because Newbon is super in-demand, we did conduct this interview in an alleyway, outside a major London train station, while the actor made his way from one appointment to the next.

• Support Starfinder: Afterlight on Kickstarter

So, how would Newbon describe Starfinder: Afterlight, the new game that you might have seen him posting about on Instagram as well?

In Newbon’s words, Starfinder: Afterlight is “an isometric roleplay game set in the world of Paizo's amazing Starfinder 2e edition rule set.

“If you don't know what Starfinder is, that is a spiritual successor to Pathfinder, which is a spin-off itself from Dungeons & Dragons, but it's not the same thing.

“It is a high-concept fantasy sci-fi drama. I actually think of Starfinder as a bit of a Western. But it's a fantastic roleplay system. And you get to live out your life as heroes, fighting some unknown thing, to maybe save the universe... maybe. Or just have snacks. One of the two."

As for how the game is shaping up, Newbon teased, "It's a really brilliant experience. I've started playing a little bit of a tester and it's gonna get there, for sure, and I just really hope people have a wonderful experience in it."

The game is being developed by a small Spanish company called Epictellers. When I spoke to the two founders over Zoom, they said that, if you compared their company to the BG3 makers from Larian, “Larian is a Ferrari, and Epictellers is a bicycle.”

When I put this to Newbon, he said with a laugh, “A bicycle, but a really nice bicycle.”

He added: “I mean, definitely, this is definitely an indie game with aspirations. The great thing is, I came to it when it was fully funded. We've done a Kickstarter recently, not because it needed funding, but actually, because we want to extend the ambitions that they had initially, to really create the best version of what this can be. And so it's really nice.”

The response to the Kickstarter? Newbon notes, “It was overwhelming. I think we hit like 600 per cent of our target within 48 hours, or something mad, which is lovely.

“So many people love the system of Starfinder, are big fans of Paizo. But also, they love the genre, and they're really excited to see this.”

Newbon is working on the game as its voice director, having been introduced to Epictellers by a mutual contact, and he will also play the role of an alien mystic called Preach.

Joining Newbon in the cast are some familiar faces, including Inel Tomlinson who also stars alongside Newbon in their Dungeons & Dragons & Drama podcast.

To hear how the podcast is going, and to hear the behind the scenes stories from Newbon’s recent TED Talk, and to hear even more about Starfinder: Afterlight, you can check out the full interview below.

The Kickstarter for Starfinder: Afterlight is live at this link. It will close on Thursday 6th November.

Read more:

• "It’s like inviting people to go swing" – Neil Newbon shares his love of role-playing games
• "I am a real actor!" – Neil Newbon talks Pixel Pack and the problems that video game actors face
• Baldur's Gate 3 Astarion and Karlach actors have different thoughts on revisiting their characters

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