Charles Martinet stepping down as the voice of Mario
Long-serving voice actor will now work with Nintendo as Mario Ambassador
Mario has lost his voice, as Nintendo of America announces that Charles Martinet will no longer record character voices for its games.
In a post on social media, the platform holder said Martinet is moving into the newly-created role of Mario Ambassador.
"With this transition, he will be stepping back from recording character voices for our games, but he'll continue to travel the world sharing the joy of Mario and interacting with you all," the company wrote.
"It has been an honour working with Charles to help bring Mario to life for so many years and we want to thank and celebrate him."
A video message from Martinet and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto discussing this move will be posted at a later date.
Martinet has voiced Mario – as well as other characters, such as Luigi, Wario and Waluigi – for nearly thirty years, with many players first introduced to his performance via 1996's Super Mario 64.
Mario's next outing is Super Mario Bros Wonder, due for release on October 20. Unveiled during June's Nintendo Direct, the initial trailer sparked debate among fans as to whether Martinet had been recast.
Speaking to Eurogamer in 2021, Martinet said there are over five million audio files of him as Mario, so it's possible Nintendo could continue to make use of these.
Update: Nintendo has confirmed to IGN that Martinet's voice will not be used in the upcoming Super Mario Bros Wonder
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