Iconic Halo multiplayer announcer recalls being “disappointed” at losing the role of Master Chief

Known as The Voice of God in Halo’s multiplayer, theatre actor/director and iconic voice actor Jeff Steitzer has been heard billions of times by hundreds of millions of gamers across the world. However, prior to the release of Halo in 2001, the actor was initially disappointed at his casting as the voice of the game’s multiplayer as he originally auditioned for the role of Master Chief.

Jeff Steitzer auditioned to be Master Chief in Halo

Detailed in an upcoming episode of the VideoGamer Podcast, Steitzer explained that he initially auditioned for a number of roles for Bungie’s 2001 FPS game, and the multiplayer announcer was not one of them.

“I drove out to the Microsoft campus and I went into a studio and I recording the audition that I did, and, you know, when that was done—it didn’t take more than ten minutes, I walked out and thought: ‘Well, I’ll never hear about that again,’” he explained. “What happened was, all the men who auditioned auditioned reading Master Chief, everybody did, as well as an alien… and then everybody had to scream like they’d just be killed horribly in battle.”

A couple of weeks later, Steitzer received a phone call from his agent saying he had been cast as Master Chief, but recalls composer Marty O’Donnell getting “cold feet” about working with someone new.

“I got word a couple of weeks later from my agent that I had been cast as Master Chief,” Steitzer said. “It ended up not being quite the way it turned out. Marty has since insisted ‘no, no, no, it wasn’t an offer’ and they hadn’t gotten that far, and it’s like, ‘okay’.”

“I can’t imagine doing a better job than Steve, or anybody else doing a better job than Steve. That voice is just incredible.”

HALO MULTIPLAYER ANNOUNCER JEFF STEITZER

Steitzer explained that it was never a problem between himself and Bungie as he had no idea what he was missing anyway. However, the actor did feel a little “disappointed” when he was told he had been given the role of the multiplayer announcer.

“I didn’t know what Master Chief was so I didn’t feel any huge loss, and then they wanted me for the announcer and I was a little disappointed,” he said. “I talked to a friend of mine who was a sound designer for the game and they were like, “Jeff, they’re gonna hear you more than anyone else in the game.”

Now, over two decades later, Steitzer believes everything worked out as it was meant to, and the actor can’t imagine anyone else other than Steve Downes in the role of Master Chief.

“I can’t imagine doing a better job than Steve,” Steitzer said. “Or anybody else doing a better job than Steve. That voice is just incredible.”

Nowadays, Steitzer has mostly retired from theatre performances, but is still working as a voice actor as well as performing Cameos for fans. With multiple Halo games now in development at Halo Studios, there’s a hope that the iconic voice of the games’ multiplayer will return, but he has yet to hear anything about the new games.

For more Halo coverage, read about the functional Pokeball mod for Halo 3 or what the series’ biggest content creators think about the shift from 343 Industries to Halo Studios.