If you’ve ever queued up a Valorant match and selected the grizzled, cigar-toting commander who drops stim beacons and orbital strikes, you’ve probably wondered who voices Brimstone in Valorant. His gravelly, authoritative delivery feels like exactly the kind of leader you’d want backing your team during a tense spike plant, and it turns out the actor behind the role has a long resume of iconic video game and animation work to boot. I’ve spent hours digging through cast interviews, Riot Games dev diaries, and old voice acting panels to pull together all the details you could want about the man behind Brimstone’s lines.
Who Voices Brimstone in Valorant, Anyway?
The actor behind Brimstone’s iconic lines is Steve Blum, a veteran voice actor with over 30 years of experience in the gaming, animation, and anime industries. If his voice sounds familiar to you, that’s no accident — he’s lent his vocal cords to hundreds of well-known characters across every genre you can imagine. Blum was hand-picked by Riot Games’ voice casting team for the Brimstone role because they wanted someone who could balance gruff authority with genuine warmth, the kind of leader who will yell at you to push site but also have your back if things go sideways. He didn’t just read lines for the role either; he worked closely with the Valorant writing team to build out Brimstone’s backstory, including his history as a former military commander and his role as the de facto dad of the Valorant protocol roster.
How Steve Blum Shaped Brimstone’s Iconic Personality
Most fans don’t realize that a lot of Brimstone’s most beloved quirks came directly from Blum’s input during recording sessions. For example, the little dry jokes he cracks after a round win, or the way he softens his tone when speaking to younger agents like Neon or Killjoy, were all ad-libbed by Blum during early recording takes. The team liked them so much they wrote those traits into Brimstone’s official character bio. Blum has said in multiple interviews that Brimstone is one of his favorite roles he’s ever taken on, because he gets to play a character that’s tough but not unkind, experienced but not dismissive of new perspectives. I once saw Blum do a live Brimstone impression at a gaming con, and the entire crowd erupted when he yelled “Stim beacon out!” exactly like he does in the game. He’s also noted that he loves getting to interact with Valorant fans at conventions, especially when they tell him that Brimstone’s lines have helped them stay calm during high-stakes ranked matches.
Other Popular Roles You Might Recognize Steve Blum From
If you’re a fan of gaming or animation, you’ve almost certainly heard Steve Blum’s work even if you didn’t realize it. His range is part of what makes him such a sought-after voice actor, as he can jump between wildly different character archetypes without missing a beat. Some of his most famous credits include:
- Spike Spiegel in the English dub of Cowboy Bebop, the role that first made him a household name among anime fans
- Wolverine in dozens of Marvel animated shows, movies, and video games, holding the Guinness World Record for the longest tenure voicing the character
- Sub-Zero in multiple Mortal Kombat games, including the recent 2023 reboot of the franchise
- Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios in Star Wars Rebels, a fan-favorite member of the Ghost crew
- Tank Dempsey in the Call of Duty Zombies franchise, one of the four original playable characters in the mode
He’s even voiced multiple other Riot Games characters outside of Valorant, including several minor characters in League of Legends and Legends of Runeterra. That existing relationship with Riot is part of why he was such an easy pick for the Brimstone role when casting got underway for Valorant’s initial agent roster.
Fun Behind-the-Scenes Facts About Brimstone’s Voice Lines
There are tons of little-known details about Brimstone’s voice work that even diehard Valorant fans haven’t heard. For example, all of Brimstone’s in-game ability lines were recorded in a single 8-hour session, and Blum drank so much tea during the shoot to keep his voice gravelly that he joked he’d never drink another cup of Earl Grey again. The infamous “Orbital strike incoming!” line was recorded 27 times before the team landed on the take that made it into the game, because they wanted it to feel urgent but not panicked, loud enough to cut through other in-game noise without being annoying to hear every round. Blum also recorded over 100 unused lines for Brimstone that have never made it into the game, including several alternate interactions with other agents like Sova and Viper that hint at shared backstories.
Riot has teased that some of these lines might be added in future updates as part of lore events, so keep an ear out during new agent releases or seasonal story drops. Blum plays Valorant in his free time, and he almost always picks Brimstone when he queues up. He’s admitted that he’s not the highest-ranked player, but he loves getting to hear his own lines when he drops a stim beacon for his random teammates. He once shared a story about a match where a teammate got so excited when they recognized his voice that they forgot to defuse the spike, costing them the round. Blum said he felt bad, but also thought it was one of the coolest fan interactions he’s ever had.
Whether you’re a casual Valorant player who just likes Brimstone’s vibe or a diehard fan who knows every line of his agent lore, it’s easy to see why the team picked Steve Blum when they were deciding who voices Brimstone in Valorant. His decades of experience, natural gravitas, and genuine love for the character have turned Brimstone from just another playable agent into one of the most beloved faces of the entire Valorant franchise. Next time you queue up a match and pick the old commander, take a second to listen to his lines — you’ll be able to pick up all the little details Blum added to make the character feel truly alive.
