THE CRUNCH
Embark Studios has acknowledged that player anger over Arc Raiders' AI-generated voice lines was justified, while defending the practice as a matter of shipping speed rather than enthusiasm for the technology. The extraction shooter drew huge player numbers at launch, but its use of AI to mimic contracted voice actors and bulk up dialogue sparked a backlash, with many players finding some AI lines lifeless and odd.
Audio director Bence Pajor explained that actors were recorded early on, but largely to create training data and prototypes rather than final lines. Because the game changes so quickly, with every new item and feature needing ping dialogue, he said recording every possible version 'becomes too impractical', and the studio cannot call actors in each time a feature changes.
Chief creative officer Stefan Strandberg pushed back on the idea that the studio wants to displace performers, saying 'we are not in the industry of replacing actors, actually quite the opposite', and that he hopes to show players more of who the characters are over the coming years. The actors involved had signed contracts permitting this use of their voices, though PC Gamer's own view is that the practice still sets a poor precedent for performers in an industry keen to cut creative costs.