Former partners of the Fire Emblem: Three Houses voice actor have come forward with claims that Niosi had abused and manipulated them over a number of years. Recently, this prompted a written response from Niosi, where the actor admitted to having “horribly mistreated and abused friends, colleagues and, even significant others,” before continuing on to deliver personalized apologies to his accusers.
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When it was discovered that the Fire Emblem: Three Houses protagonist was to be voiced by Niosi, fans of the series that are familiar with this situation came forward with their concerns. While Nintendo did not address these fans directly, Niosi’s name has since been removed from the Fire Emblem Heroes character page, and a character trailer has been uploaded with a new voice for Byleth credited to Zach Aguilar.
At the time of writing, there has been no official indication that Niosi’s work will be removed from the new Switch Fire Emblem now that the Fire Emblem: Three Houses release date has come. However, the prompt action that has been taken to replace Niosi in Fire Emblem Heroes may mean that it is a possibility, and it could only be a matter of time before Nintendo releases a patch to Three Houses that alters the voice acting for Byleth.
This would certainly not be the first time that the actions of an actor have prompted a company to remove their work from a game post-launch. Earlier this year, for example, Sega removed actor Pierre Taki’s likeness and voice acting from the western release of Judgement following a drug scandal. While it remains to be seen if Nintendo will pursue similar action, Niosi’s prompt removal from Fire Emblem Heroes suggests that the allegations against him are being taken seriously.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses is out now, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
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Source: Game Informer, Reddit, Tumblr
