Charlie Cox — the actor behind Gustave’s voice in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 — has finally done the thing fans have been needling him about for a year: he’s played the game. Not finished it, not even close, but enough to say he’s dipped into the opening and understands what players have been raving about… even if he also says, bluntly, that he’s “not very good” at it.
It’s a small update with a weird amount of gravity, because Cox’s relationship with Expedition 33 has become its own side-quest: a celebrated performance, major awards attention, and an actor who’s been candid (sometimes painfully so) about not being “a gamer” — until now.
Cox Played the Opening, Met the Cast, and “Garnered the Information”
In a recent interview with GamesRadar+, Cox confirmed he’s finally played “a bit” of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. He emphasized he hasn’t completed it, and described his time with the game as largely the opening stretch — walking around, meeting characters, and absorbing early story context.
His quote is as straightforward as it gets: “I’m not very good, because obviously, it’s a skill set, but I’ve played it.” He also added, “I’ve played the opening bit for a while and kind of walked around and met the people and garnered the information and all that kind of stuff… Not very well. I’m not very good.”
That detail matters because it frames what “playing the game” actually means here. Cox isn’t claiming he’s suddenly grinding out a 100% run or pushing deep into the campaign. He’s describing the kind of first-contact experience a non-regular player would have: learning the language of the game, getting a feel for movement and interaction, and sampling the story’s tone.
He also specifically referenced the way Expedition 33 delivers narrative information over time — not dumping everything on the player at once, but letting you discover it as you move through the world. Cox described modern game storytelling as being like “a movie you get to participate in,” contrasting it with the games he remembers from years ago.
Why This Became a “Thing” in the First Place
Cox voicing Gustave in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 should’ve been a clean, celebratory story: strong performance, fans connect, awards recognition follows. Instead, it turned into a recurring talking point because Cox repeatedly admitted he hadn’t played the game, and that the attention sometimes made him feel like a “total fraud.”
That honesty is rare in games media, where the expected script is usually some version of “I love games, I played it, I’m honored.” Cox didn’t do that. He kept reiterating that he wasn’t a gamer, and that his involvement was relatively limited in terms of time spent recording.
And yet, his performance clearly landed. Cox received a Game Awards nomination for Best Performance for his work as Gustave, and he’s also nominated at the BAFTA Games Awards for Best Supporting Actor for the same role.
The irony is that the more he tried to deflect praise, the more the conversation stuck to him. Cox has repeatedly pointed to the work of Gustave’s motion capture performer, Maxence Cazorla, stressing that the physical performance deserves more recognition. That’s not a throwaway comment — it’s a real fault line in how game performances are discussed, marketed, and awarded.
When a character hits, the public-facing spotlight often lands on the most recognizable name, even when the on-screen (or in-engine) performance is the result of multiple specialists: voice, motion capture, facial capture, animation, direction, editing, and more. Cox’s insistence on redirecting credit didn’t just read as humility; it highlighted a structural blind spot in how the industry hands out applause.
“It Didn’t Really Feel Like Me” — Cox on Hearing Himself as Gustave
One of the most interesting pieces of Cox’s comments isn’t about skill or completion status — it’s about identity. Cox said that playing Expedition 33 didn’t feel like he was controlling “Charlie Cox” in a game. He said, “It didn’t really feel like me… I didn’t really think of it as me, I thought of it as Gustave.”
That’s a fascinating insight into how games scramble the usual actor-feedback loop.
Film and TV actors can watch their full performance: face, body language, micro-expressions, the whole physical instrument. In a game performance pipeline — especially when voice and motion capture are split — an actor may deliver something emotionally precise, then see it embodied by someone else’s physicality. For players, it’s seamless. For the actor, it can be disorienting.
Cox’s comment also underlines why his repeated praise for Cazorla isn’t just polite. If Cox doesn’t “see himself” in Gustave, it’s because Gustave isn’t a single-person performance in the way audiences often assume. It’s a composite.
The “I Haven’t Played It” Discourse Needs to Calm Down
Here’s the part I’ll plant a flag on: Cox never owed anyone a playthrough.
Yes, it’s fun when actors engage deeply with the games they’re in. Yes, it can lead to better interviews, more informed convention panels, and occasionally some genuinely charming “I finally get it” moments. But the last year of people obsessing over whether Cox had played Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has felt less like curiosity and more like a loyalty test.
Cox’s gaming touchstones — he mentioned FIFA 98, Mario Kart, and GoldenEye 007 — paint a clear picture of someone whose relationship with games is rooted in a different era and a different kind of play. Those games were “incredibly addictive,” he said, but they “weren’t stories” in the same way Expedition 33 is.
That’s not an insult to older games. It’s an honest description of how the medium evolved — and how someone who hasn’t kept up might find modern, story-driven RPGs intimidating. Cox has also referenced the sheer time investment, noting that some players spend 50-plus hours, sometimes even 100 hours, in games like this. For people who live and breathe RPGs, that’s normal. For someone outside the hobby, it sounds like a second job.
So yes, it’s mildly amusing that he finally played “a bit.” But the bigger takeaway is that he did it on his own terms, and he’s still being honest about where he’s at: he’s not great at it, and that’s fine.
Awards Context: Expedition 33 Is Still Cleaning Up
Cox’s comments arrive in the orbit of awards season, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 remains a heavyweight in that conversation.
Cox is nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the BAFTA Games Awards for Gustave. The same category includes Alix Wilton Regan, Kirsty Rider (who also appears in Expedition 33 as Lune), Jane Perry, Jeffrey Wright, and Troy Baker.
The game itself has also been nominated across multiple BAFTA categories, including Best Game, Artistic Achievement, Audio Achievement, Debut Game, Game Design, and New Intellectual Property. On the performance side, Jennifer English (Maelle) and Ben Starr (Verso) are nominated for Performer in a Leading Role.
And while awards counts can be slippery depending on what you include, Expedition 33 has been described as having accumulated over 400 awards since its release.
For anyone who missed the basics: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG from developer Sandfall Interactive, published by Kepler Interactive, released April 24, 2025, and rated Mature 17+ by the ESRB.
Cox Says Another Video Game Role Is Coming — But He’s Not Naming It Yet
If you’re wondering whether this whole experience scared Cox off games entirely, there’s a twist: he’s already lined up another video game role.
Cox has said he’s set to star in another game following the success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, though he hasn’t revealed what it is. He also said he’ll be “much more involved” this time, and that it will require “more work,” suggesting he may be doing motion capture as well as voiceover.
That’s the most exciting forward-looking detail here, because it hints at a very specific evolution: from “voice in a booth” to a fuller performance capture role. If Cox does step into mo-cap, it would also neatly address the very issue he’s been vocal about — the split-credit reality of game performances.
No title, no studio, no platform details have been announced for that next project yet. But the intent is clear: Cox isn’t backing away from games. He’s moving closer.
What Remains Unknown
- Whether Cox plans to continue playing Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 beyond the opening hours
- Exactly how much time he’s spent with the game so far (only that it’s “a bit”/a few hours and not a full completion)
- The identity of the next video game Cox is attached to, including developer, publisher, platforms, and release window
- Whether Cox’s next role will definitively include motion capture, or if that’s still only implied by his “more involved” comments
If nothing else, this is the cleanest possible ending to a bizarre mini-saga: Charlie Cox played Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, he’s not great at it, and the world can finally move on — ideally while giving the full performance team, including motion capture talent like Maxence Cazorla, the credit they’ve earned.
