Graha Voice Actor Change?

[peachsyder]

Either way, making a clear, respectful statement that we wanna keep him in the game at all costs is important I feel, and the more people chime in the better.

In face of whatever this "no comment" update may or may not mean, I'm just gonna reiterate what KiraRavens said here. Now more than ever it's important for people to make a statement that Bailey as G'raha matters to us, and that Square Enix needs to be doing what they can to keep him. Especially if the silence is an indicator they are, maybe, in the process of renegotiating contracts.

If it ends up being that Bailey wants to leave, fine. But if something is going on on Square Enix's side, then you should be letting them know this is important to you as a player.

Here's hoping for the best.

[mildlymoonstruck]

"Update, 12/19/25, 9:15 a.m.: A representative of Bailey told Kotaku that he “won’t be commenting or participating in any interviews regarding FF XIV” at this time."

That's such a non-answer, but it makes me feel sick to the pit of my stomach.

Please, Square Enix, tell us something so we can stop worrying over it.

Ugh, this is brutal. Honestly I take this as soft confirmation that he was not voicing G'raha for 7.4, but the main thing is that I hope not even commenting on whether or not he had is an indication that the future of G'raha's voicework is still in question. It's a very small hope, but I want to hope nonetheless. Jonathan Bailey's voicework made G'raha the best character in the game to me as much as the writing did, and even if we'd still have the latter going forward, he simply wouldn't feel like the real G'raha Tia to me without Bailey's voice behind him. This isn't a knock on whoever stepped in for 7.4; they did well, but I will always compare whoever it is to the highest of standards that Bailey set - and quite frankly, that Square Enix would be monumentally foolish to not maintain.

[KiraRavens]

This suggests to me that whatever is going on with JB's future with FFXIV, it's very much still in flux. If he definitively is stepping away, he or SE could have said so. And if he is definitively still involved, the same applies.

All the more reason to let SE know that they should fight to keep Bailey voicing G'raha Tia. Given the star power of the JP voice cast, I see no reason why SE couldn't afford to negotiate a way to keep him on the EN roster. Hopefully we won't have to wait all the way until April for a more definitive answer.

He'll have signed an NDA, which usually covers the time of your engagement as well as before and after, so if he was stepping away (for whatever reason), it would be up to SE to announce the change, not him.
He'd most likely not be allowed to comment on it before it became public knowledge via an official statement from SE.

On the other hand, if it's actually him after all (still don't think so at all) and the quality was just bad, he'd not want to / not be allowed to comment and let SE handle the "damage control", or comment on it themselves.

And if they're still in negoations of any kind, neither party would say anything at this point - not until there's a clear decision/contract.

So, there's honestly very few scenarios in which JB himself would have commented now instead of waiting for SE to make a statement first, so I'm not too concerned about this yet.
SE not commenting points towards things being undecided imo - or they're actually trying to just let this blow over in light of a definitive recast, but that would be a really weird move, even for them and their low-communication interaction style with the fanbase.

[peachsyder]

This suggests to me that whatever is going on with JB's future with FFXIV, it's very much still in flux. If he definitively is stepping away, he or SE could have said so. And if he is definitively still involved, the same applies.

All the more reason to let SE know that they should fight to keep Bailey voicing G'raha Tia. Given the star power of the JP voice cast, I see no reason why SE couldn't afford to negotiate a way to keep him on the EN roster. Hopefully we won't have to wait all the way until April for a more definitive answer.

Well said as usual. If something definitive had already been set, be it that he's still here or that he's left for good, I feel like we wouldn't have got such a non answer.

SE has the means and power to negotiate to keep Bailey if they actually try. As players, the best we can do is make sure they hear that this matters to us. A lot.

[concernedcitizen]

I have played the game in both English and JP and while I won't quit playing if Jonathan Bailey does step down, I definitely know people who will. If he does and graha is still a main member of the cast I will probably switch to playing in JP only which is a shame because I really do like the english localization up to this point as well. I know effort does go into the localization and there are lots of great performances but it just won't be the same without him.

I hope sincerely that SE fights to keep him on this role. I saw comments here about not wanting to pay his "hollywood rates" or whatever (which are assumptions, we have no idea about any payment disputes so lets not just say presumptions like they are fact) but don't you think with his career exploding it would bring some interest to his other roles and maybe new players to the game? God knows we need something here to attract new players.

I do think it's crazy that we have heard a non answer but at least some reply from Bailey's agent before SE has even acknowledged this as a thing. The silence is deafening

[Wasselin]

I love Jonathan Bailey, but at his new level of stardom it's not just about money. SE can pay as much money as they want but the limiting factor for him is probably time and prestige. He may really love the role (or just say that for PR sake) but it's not going to boost his profile. And I think it's unreasonable to expect SE to pay movie star rates for a voice actor for a video game.

My concern is that if he is replaced, they really need to find someone who can match his performance and whatever was happening in patch 7.4 was not it. To me G'raha sounded like a completely different person.

[PaulH]

I made a post on my Bluesky of the game's patch history since 4.4 and major events in Bailey's career. So we can all be on the same page about this. He has ALWAYS been a busy man.

Nice timeline thanks, and I got to meet JB in C*ck the play I am not sure if that word would cause issues here lol. Great actor, lovely man and well I can only hope he remains as voice actor for G'raha. Like others have echoed it would be nice to get some clarity on what is going on if anything. I will take optimistic view he is still a VA working on this game till I see a credible update.

[bunnymoon]

If things are all wrapped up in NDAs, then there's a strong possibility that we really will just have to wait till the credits roll at the end of the patch cycle.

[Lara_Kotzji]

"Update, 12/19/25, 9:15 a.m.: A representative of Bailey told Kotaku that he “won’t be commenting or participating in any interviews regarding FF XIV” at this time."

That's such a non-answer, but it makes me feel sick to the pit of my stomach.

Please, Square Enix, tell us something so we can stop worrying over it.

Reading this made me feel worse than I did since Tuesday... I really hope SE makes a statement about this. It's not good to let fans continue to worry and create this tense atmosphere. Besides, the situation is getting weirder and weirder...
I don't think JB has any obligation to do so. While a small response, whether affirmative or negative, would have been appreciated, he is not responsible (although I am really concerned that they removed him without his consent. If he decided to leave on his own, well, there's nothing we can do and he has every right to do so. But if not, I would be so furious with SE).

[claustromania]

I love Jonathan Bailey, but at his new level of stardom it's not just about money. SE can pay as much money as they want but the limiting factor for him is probably time and prestige. He may really love the role (or just say that for PR sake) but it's not going to boost his profile. And I think it's unreasonable to expect SE to pay movie star rates for a voice actor for a video game.

If he doesn't have the time or inclination to continue voicing G'raha there's nothing to be done about it, but I highly doubt he's asking for movie star rates for a voice role he's already stated he's determined to continue reprising. Voice acting is extremely low-commitment compared to the demands of starring in a movie or stage play, and the rates reflect that. I doubt he's asking for Wicked/Jurassic Park money, and again, the JP voice cast as a whole are high-profile, so SE can afford to pay for in-demand talent. It's more likely a question of whether they're willing to for EN localization.

Also, he voiced one of the loporrits in Endwalker. I doubt SE paid a premium for that, or that JB is overly concerned with prestige.

My concern is that if he is replaced, they really need to find someone who can match his performance and whatever was happening in patch 7.4 was not it. To me G'raha sounded like a completely different person.

I agree. If it wasn't JB in 7.4 (even now, I'm still not totally convinced it 100% wasn't him), they sounded unwell. I kept expecting them to sneeze.

Someone on the social medias mentioned Jay Saighal, who voiced Nald'thal in the raids and convinced even big G'raha fans like myself that he was in fact JB. If G'raha needs to be recasted, I'd hope SE would cast someone who sounds similar. 7.4 G'raha was a very jarring departure from the voice we love.