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Right now the videogame industry as a whole is worth $152.1 billion, compare that to $42.2 billion in the movie industry. Character models started because of those 2d games in the 90s that use digitized sprites. 3d games are not a thing then and Ed Boon, the game producer wanted to make a realistic game with the limited technology they had. So he goes to gyms Martial arts schools near their game studios and offered people who caught his eye to model for him. They thought he was weird and creepy but they accepted the gig.
Here is rare footage of how the Mortal Kombat characters are animated:
The male models were asked to shave their armpits because armpit hair looks weird when animated.
Those models took advantage of their 15 minutes of fame and did a National tour around America and made live Martial arts shows for children. It didn't make them big stars but it helps them get gigs as stuntmen and it helps them with their Martial art schools.
During the 3d era of games, the graphics became more realistic. This is when video game companies started hiring motion capture models. When Capcom decided to Remake Resident evil 1, They found a then 15-year-old Canadian Model Julia Voth. They cast her to Play Jill Valentine, A 23-year-old cop who got caught up in a zombie apocalypse. For 10 years they used her likeness to play Jill. This gig helps her book roles for Indie movies. She also gets to star in a Canadian sitcom titled Package deal.
Fans of Resident evil loved her more when she decided to play the games and cosplay Jill Valentine.
Sadly Capcom decided not to renew their contract with Julia Voth. Her likeness becomes too expensive when she becomes a Hollywood actress. So on the remake of Resident Evil 3, They replaced her with 22-year-old Russian model Sasha Zotova. Sasha got a lot of hatred from Julia Voth fans in the beginning but she won the hearts of the fans eventually because she embraced the character too.
Her Instagram account become profitable and she started a gaming channel on Youtube and she monetized it in a month.
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Detroit: Becoming Human was the biggest game of 2018. I remember how female gamers talk about how handsome the lead character Connor is.
The internet broke when they found out his voice actor is his face model. His success from playing Connor bagged him roles for more videogames and he became a videogame streamer himself.
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Polish model Helena Mankowska got a weird modeling gig where instead of having a photographer, A weird machine just captured her face. Little did she knows it will make her the most googled Vampire in the history of Vampires. Money-making Machine. Her likeness was used for the breakout character of the year.... Lady Dimitrescu. A tall Vampire lady who made Capcom hundred millions of dollars.
Her game sold 3 million copies on the first day. A copy is worth $60 times that to 3 Million. A company made one hundred eighty million copies because of her face that is used to make a tall vampire mom of three. Her likeness made more money when a Juice drink is named after her honor:
Vampires hate Garlic but she became an endorser of Domino's Pizza too.
She is more worth than some Hollywood star right now because her likeness is still a Clout magnet. Helena used her new found fame for charity work.
Slowly but surely now that the video game industry is bigger than the movie and music industry, face models of videogame characters will be the celebrities of the future. Video Game Awards have higher ratings than Oscars as years gone by. Movies will be replaced by games eventually.
