People forget how weird the launch of Outriders was back in 2021. We were all stuck inside, looking for the next big looter-shooter to scratch that Destiny itch, and suddenly People Can Fly drops this gritty, hyper-violent sci-fi epic. It wasn't perfect, but the world-building? That actually stuck. A huge reason for that was the cast of the Outriders, a group of actors who had to sell some pretty heavy, nihilistic dialogue while players were busy exploding enemies into red mist with volcanic rounds.
Honestly, the voice acting is what carries the narrative when the "Anomaly" storms get a bit confusing. You've got these characters who have lost literally everything—Earth is gone, their friends are dead, and they're stuck on a planet that actively wants to kill them. It takes a specific kind of performance to make that not feel like a bargain-bin action movie.
The Voice Behind the Outrider: Why the Protagonist Matters
In most looter-shooters, your character is a silent cipher. Not here. Whether you picked the male or female version of the "Altered," your character is a cynical, exhausted mercenary who has zero time for anyone's nonsense.
Shai Matheson provides the voice for the male Outrider. If he sounds familiar, it’s probably because you’ve heard him in Dragon Age: Inquisition or Cyberpunk 2077. Matheson brings this weary, gravelly quality to the role. He plays the Outrider as someone who has seen the absolute worst of humanity and isn't surprised by it anymore. It’s a grounded performance in a game that is otherwise completely over-the-top.
On the flip side, Jennifer McKinnon Magee voices the female Outrider. It's a different vibe. She leans into the "done with this" attitude even harder. There’s a specific scene early on when you first wake up from cryo-sleep, and she’s just staring at the chaos of the First City—Magee nails that sense of utter disbelief. She’s also popped up in things like The Division 2, so she’s no stranger to the "everything has gone to hell" genre of gaming.
Shira Gutmann: The Weight of Leadership
Then there’s Shira. Poor Shira. She’s essentially the leader of what’s left of the ECA (Enoch Colonization Authority). When you first meet her, she’s a young, idealistic soldier. When you see her again after the time skip? She’s scarred, cynical, and barely holding it together.
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Sara Powell is the actress behind Shira. Powell is a veteran of the British acting scene, appearing in long-running shows like Doctor Who and Holby City. She does a fantastic job of portraying the physical and mental toll that 30 years of endless war would take on a person. Shira isn't a "likable" character in the traditional sense. She’s harsh. She’s demanding. But Powell makes you understand why. You feel the pressure she's under to keep the last remnants of humanity from blinking out of existence.
Jakub Dabrowski and the Heart of the Group
Let’s talk about Jakub. Every grimdark sci-fi story needs a heart, or at least a grumpy old man who provides the beer and the transport. Jakub is that guy. He’s your old merc buddy who somehow survived the decades while you were on ice.
Piotr Baumann voices Jakub. This was such a spot-on casting choice because Baumann has this naturally deep, resonance-heavy voice that fits a guy who has spent thirty years breathing in Enoch’s polluted air. Baumann actually has a background in shows like EastEnders, but gaming fans might recognize him from The Witcher 3. He gives Jakub a sense of loyalty that feels earned. When things go south for Jakub later in the story—no spoilers, but it gets rough—it actually hurts because Baumann made him feel like a real friend rather than just a vendor standing by a truck.
The Supporting Players You Might Recognize
The cast of the Outriders is surprisingly deep. It’s not just the main trio. You’ve got characters like Zahedi, the scientist who is basically the only person on the planet who knows how any of the old tech works.
- Dr. Abraham Zahedi: Voiced by Divian Ladwa. You might remember him from the film Lion or the Marvel Cinematic Universe (he was in Ant-Man and the Wasp). He plays Zahedi with a mix of genius and utter terror.
- Bailey: Voiced by Tiana Khan. She’s the merchant who ends up paralyzed and has a massive chip on her shoulder. Khan plays that transition from arrogant trader to bitter survivor really well.
- August: This is a tricky one because August is an "Enochian" or "Pax." The voice work here is more about the cadence and the alien feel of the dialogue. It's subtle, but it adds a lot to the late-game mystery.
Why the Performances Landed (Despite the Bugs)
When Outriders launched, it was riddled with server issues and "inventory wipes." It was a mess. But people stayed. Why? Because the campaign was actually engaging. The cast of the Outriders treated the script with more respect than it probably deserved.
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The dialogue is full of F-bombs and grit, but the actors never wink at the camera. They play it straight. When your character tells a villain to "shut up and die," it doesn't feel like a cheesy action line; it feels like the exhausted response of a person who has fought through ten thousand mutants just to get to this room.
The Nuance of the Altered
It is worth noting that the "Altered" characters—the humans who gained god-like powers from the storm—have to sound different. They aren't just humans anymore. The voice directors clearly pushed the actors to sound a bit more detached.
Take Seth, for example. He’s the first powerful Altered you meet. He speaks with a cadence that suggests he’s thinking on a completely different plane of existence. It’s that kind of detail that makes the world of Enoch feel lived-in. The cast didn't just show up and read lines; they helped define the hierarchy of this new, broken world.
The Legacy of the Outriders Cast
Since the Worldslayer expansion, we haven't seen a massive amount of new content, which is a shame because the chemistry between the main cast was hitting its stride. The expansion added Ereshkigal, a new antagonist voiced with chilling precision. It showed that the developers knew the "human" element of the story was its strongest asset.
If you’re playing through the game now in 2026, pay attention to the incidental dialogue at the camps. The banter between the Outrider and Jakub, or the way Shira’s voice breaks when she talks about the early days of the landing—that’s where the real storytelling is. It’s not in the codex entries. It’s in the performances.
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How to Appreciate the Voice Work Today
If you want to really see what these actors can do, try a second playthrough with the "other" gendered protagonist. The script is mostly the same, but the delivery changes the entire tone of the story. Shai Matheson’s Outrider feels like a brawler trying to find a reason to keep going. Jennifer McKinnon Magee’s Outrider feels like a survivor who is perpetually five seconds away from losing her temper. Both are valid. Both are great.
Next Steps for Players:
- Toggle the Dialogue: If you've only played as one gender, start a new character (maybe a different class like the Devastator or Trickster) to hear the alternative voice lines.
- Check the Credits: Look for the name Babel, the production company that handled a lot of the voice recording. They are responsible for the high-quality English localization.
- Listen to the Audio Logs: Many of the secondary cast members deliver their best performances in the collectible journals scattered throughout the maps, detailing the fall of the ECA.
The cast of the Outriders successfully turned a potentially generic sci-fi shooter into a character-driven tragedy. In an industry where "live service" often means "no story," that’s a feat worth recognizing.
Actionable Insight: If you're interested in voice acting, follow Shai Matheson or Sara Powell on social media. They often share behind-the-scenes tidbits about the motion capture process used in the game, which involved full-body performance capture rather than just standing in a booth. This is why the characters' movements feel so tied to their vocal delivery.