"There is a quality difference. A real professional actor is better than AI; that's just how it is,” Embark Studios CEO said.
Arc Raiders included AI-generated voice lines at launch
Photo Credit: Embark Studios
Arc Raiders, the hit extraction shooter from Embark Studios, launched in October last year and faced criticism for its use of AI-generated voice lines. Months after the game's launch, Embark CEO Patrick Söderlund has said the studio re-recorded some of the AI voices with human performers and has acknowledged the “quality difference” between the two.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Söderlund said Arc Raiders now has fewer AI voice lines than it had at launch.
“We re-recorded some of the lines post-launch and made them with real voices," Söderlund told the publication in a recent interview.
Embark faced flak in the weeks following the launch of Arc Raiders for the use of AI-generated voice lines in the game. According to the studio, some voice lines in Arc Raiders utilised licensed human voices generated via text-to-speech tools. While Söderlund maintained that the AI voice lines were mostly utilised for the in-game ping system audio, but acknowledged that re-recorded human voices were much better.
“There is a quality difference. A real professional actor is better than AI; that's just how it is,” he said.
The executive said Embark used AI as a production tool to test things internally and didn't “necessarily believe in replacing humans with AI all the time.”
Arc Raiders has been a major success for Sweden-based Embark Studios. The PvPvE extraction shooter has sold over 12 million copies since it launched on October 30 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series S/X.
Embark has continued to provide regular post-launch updates for Arc Raiders, releasing several patches that have added new content to the game. In January, Embark shared a four-month content roadmap for the game, confirming new Arc robots, map conditions, rewards, and a new map that will be released as part of an update in April.
Most recently, Embark rolled out Update 1.19.0 to Arc Raiders, that added a new cosmetic to the game, along with a host of gameplay fixes.
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