Dev Diary #3: An Interview with Voice Actor Evan Sabba
[h3]Hey! My name is Evan Sabba and I’m the voice actor behind Evan in Ground Zero, the elite operative from Canada who accompanies Seo-Yeon during her investigation of the meteor impact site in South Korea. I’m excited to do this interview to talk about my voice acting career so far and what it’s been like voicing Evan![/h3]
When did you first know that you wanted to pursue a career in voice acting?
I think it was something I always wanted to do since childhood. I remember growing up on Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica, which inspired me to want to act out scenes from the shows. One day day, I found my mother’s THE PLANETS record, composed by GUSTAV HOLST (which I believe John Williams built a lot of the Star Wars music from), and would play along to it. It’s very dramatic music, so I would use it to act out scenes on my own or with my friends and we’d record them on my mother’s cassette recorder. We did whole hallway walking scenes, captain in his command chair scenes, engine room scenes, discovery scenes, and of course battle scenes! Obviously we’d make our own laser and explosion sound effects as well, to make it more realistic. So really, acting has ALWAYS been a huge part of my life.
Describe what your career has been like so far, from the point when you first started voice acting to now.
This is a challenge to answer, since the truth is filled with heartache, broken dreams, missed opportunities, self loathing, self appreciation, desperation, excitement, blessings, thunderous applause, brilliant successes, tears of joy. The highs and the lows from seeing yourself on the big screen to not working for years at a stretch. You know those face masks? Comedy and Tragedy? Turns out those are pretty accurate when it comes to being an actor! It’s been a ride so far, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s hard to want or imagine any other life for myself.
Evan Sabba.
What challenges do you face as a voice actor in the games industry?
We all know the big one. AI replacement. Everything is like that old game PONG right now. PONG released on November 29th 1972. Look where we are now with games. Didn’t take long to get here, right? So imagine AI Voice mapping and reproduction is PONG right NOW as of 2025. Paying artists with dignity and appreciation will go out the window when no one thinks of it as an art.
I fear corporate directions and interests will pollute the world with data produced noise, rather than lovingly captured real human voices. A human’s voice is shaped by the performer’s whole extremely diverse life, the joy and the pain of existence. I fear AI will dehumanize concepts of art and existence.
What other games have you worked on besides Ground Zero?
I had the extreme pleasure of voicing Brad Vickers in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. Yes, I am the guy who Nemesis takes out at the RPD. He was after STARS members, and there was no escape for me. Jill got away though. She was lucky and made it out somehow. Good for her, I guess!
Character art of Brad Vickers from Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.
What types of games do you like to play in your free time?
I play EVERYTHING. I mean it. There are some types of games I do not play for longer stretches than others, but eventually I will at least try them. I do not have the time to finish all the games I own, which seems to be a common issue with gamers! I will at least try and see some of the artwork, design, controls, and imagination at play for however briefly I get with a game. It’s sort of like going to a gallery to see some paintings. I may spend more time looking at one painting than another, but I want to see all the paintings I can. I’m there letting the painting affect me. Let what I am looking at IN and feel what emotions and thoughts the painter wanted to create in me. That’s how I like to give time to every game I play. Be it jank, AAA, slow, fast, too fast. For me, it’s about letting the art of it all in and letting it take you away. If it doesn’t hit for me, I move on quicker.
What has it been like stepping into the shoes of Evan?
Pretty easy. I am already an Evan and, as a proud member of the Order of Evans, I have to know at least half of all other Evans’ mindsets and emotions before embarking on a role with such magnitude which, I might add, only an Evan could perform. I hope that explains it. If it doesn’t (and it probably won’t, since only an ordained member of the Order of Evans could possibly understand), then the performance mainly started to take shape after some detailed discussions between myself and Ground Zero’s lead developer James over the course of two weeks. We had live sessions for recording, so there were adjustments on the fly and it was a great deal of fun. I can’t wait to see what they do with all the audio!
What do you do in order to get in character before you record your lines? Are there any other characters, TV shows, games, films, etc. that you draw inspiration from when becoming Evan (the Ground Zero Evan, that is!)?
I think, once you get an idea of what you are good at, you do lean on performances that you loved growing up or just think are perfect moments to try in a scene. I think knowing myself and my range, there is always a part of Hudson balanced by Hicks from Aliens in my performance that I like to tap into.
What’s been the highlight of working on Ground Zero so far?
I love working on a smaller project like this. I got to know James and what he was going for a lot better from casual discussions about his game and his passion behind wanting to create it. I am honored he asked me to voice such a fantastic character and be a part of his game. It has been a deep wish of mine to be in a game again, and to be in a game set in the same classical style as early Resident Evil games is a dream come true.
Once they’ve finished the game, how do you want players to feel about Evan? What type of person is he?
I think Evan is extremely sharp but a bit of a joker. He’s very caring but brings chaos when needed. He’s also always a little hangry.
If you met Evan in real life, do you think you’d get along?
Sure, but I would have to let him poke fun at me for a while.
[h3]If you’ve enjoyed this dev diary, then don’t forget to follow Evan Sabba on Twitch, X/Twitter, and Bluesky![/h3]
When did you first know that you wanted to pursue a career in voice acting?
I think it was something I always wanted to do since childhood. I remember growing up on Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica, which inspired me to want to act out scenes from the shows. One day day, I found my mother’s THE PLANETS record, composed by GUSTAV HOLST (which I believe John Williams built a lot of the Star Wars music from), and would play along to it. It’s very dramatic music, so I would use it to act out scenes on my own or with my friends and we’d record them on my mother’s cassette recorder. We did whole hallway walking scenes, captain in his command chair scenes, engine room scenes, discovery scenes, and of course battle scenes! Obviously we’d make our own laser and explosion sound effects as well, to make it more realistic. So really, acting has ALWAYS been a huge part of my life.
Describe what your career has been like so far, from the point when you first started voice acting to now.
This is a challenge to answer, since the truth is filled with heartache, broken dreams, missed opportunities, self loathing, self appreciation, desperation, excitement, blessings, thunderous applause, brilliant successes, tears of joy. The highs and the lows from seeing yourself on the big screen to not working for years at a stretch. You know those face masks? Comedy and Tragedy? Turns out those are pretty accurate when it comes to being an actor! It’s been a ride so far, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s hard to want or imagine any other life for myself.
Evan Sabba.What challenges do you face as a voice actor in the games industry?
We all know the big one. AI replacement. Everything is like that old game PONG right now. PONG released on November 29th 1972. Look where we are now with games. Didn’t take long to get here, right? So imagine AI Voice mapping and reproduction is PONG right NOW as of 2025. Paying artists with dignity and appreciation will go out the window when no one thinks of it as an art.
I fear corporate directions and interests will pollute the world with data produced noise, rather than lovingly captured real human voices. A human’s voice is shaped by the performer’s whole extremely diverse life, the joy and the pain of existence. I fear AI will dehumanize concepts of art and existence.
What other games have you worked on besides Ground Zero?
I had the extreme pleasure of voicing Brad Vickers in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. Yes, I am the guy who Nemesis takes out at the RPD. He was after STARS members, and there was no escape for me. Jill got away though. She was lucky and made it out somehow. Good for her, I guess!
Character art of Brad Vickers from Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.What types of games do you like to play in your free time?
I play EVERYTHING. I mean it. There are some types of games I do not play for longer stretches than others, but eventually I will at least try them. I do not have the time to finish all the games I own, which seems to be a common issue with gamers! I will at least try and see some of the artwork, design, controls, and imagination at play for however briefly I get with a game. It’s sort of like going to a gallery to see some paintings. I may spend more time looking at one painting than another, but I want to see all the paintings I can. I’m there letting the painting affect me. Let what I am looking at IN and feel what emotions and thoughts the painter wanted to create in me. That’s how I like to give time to every game I play. Be it jank, AAA, slow, fast, too fast. For me, it’s about letting the art of it all in and letting it take you away. If it doesn’t hit for me, I move on quicker.
What has it been like stepping into the shoes of Evan?
Pretty easy. I am already an Evan and, as a proud member of the Order of Evans, I have to know at least half of all other Evans’ mindsets and emotions before embarking on a role with such magnitude which, I might add, only an Evan could perform. I hope that explains it. If it doesn’t (and it probably won’t, since only an ordained member of the Order of Evans could possibly understand), then the performance mainly started to take shape after some detailed discussions between myself and Ground Zero’s lead developer James over the course of two weeks. We had live sessions for recording, so there were adjustments on the fly and it was a great deal of fun. I can’t wait to see what they do with all the audio!
What do you do in order to get in character before you record your lines? Are there any other characters, TV shows, games, films, etc. that you draw inspiration from when becoming Evan (the Ground Zero Evan, that is!)?
I think, once you get an idea of what you are good at, you do lean on performances that you loved growing up or just think are perfect moments to try in a scene. I think knowing myself and my range, there is always a part of Hudson balanced by Hicks from Aliens in my performance that I like to tap into.
What’s been the highlight of working on Ground Zero so far?
I love working on a smaller project like this. I got to know James and what he was going for a lot better from casual discussions about his game and his passion behind wanting to create it. I am honored he asked me to voice such a fantastic character and be a part of his game. It has been a deep wish of mine to be in a game again, and to be in a game set in the same classical style as early Resident Evil games is a dream come true.
Once they’ve finished the game, how do you want players to feel about Evan? What type of person is he?
I think Evan is extremely sharp but a bit of a joker. He’s very caring but brings chaos when needed. He’s also always a little hangry.
If you met Evan in real life, do you think you’d get along?
Sure, but I would have to let him poke fun at me for a while.
[h3]If you’ve enjoyed this dev diary, then don’t forget to follow Evan Sabba on Twitch, X/Twitter, and Bluesky![/h3]