Neil Newbon, the actor best known as Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3, is giving Arc Raiders developer Embark its flowers for replacing AI voice lines with human ones.
Newbon has been one of the most vocal critics of generative AI in the gaming community, having repeatedly slammed the tech as sounding like “crap” and imploring game studios to re-record AI voice lines with real human performances.
Well, Arc Raiders studio Embark, which previously admitted to using AI-generated text to speech for some voice lines, has started following Newbon’s advice, and like the honorable person he seems to be, the actor is recognizing that good deed.
“That’s insane, it’s crazy,” he tells FRVR. “I understand their cycle is probably very tight and it’s a live game service now, but that seems crackers … I’m glad because I love that game,” he adds.
“That game is awesome. Props to them for actually doing it, I actually think that’s great to hear … I think hats off to them for doing that, that’s a good thing, and that’s good to hear.”
Newbon also admits to having been “let down” by Arc Raiders after finding out it featured AI-generated voice lines. “You’ve made so much money and it’s been such a success,” he says. “Like, we’re talking about pittance compared to your whole cycle.”
Arc Raiders is getting its big Flashpoint update this week, adding a new Vaporizer Arc type, three new weapons, a new map condition, and loads more. With all of this goodwill from Newbon, let’s hope there aren’t any sneaky AI voices anywhere.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Astarion actor has avoided roles that were “just like” the iconic vampire, as that’s what David Bowie would do: “Extreme repetition breeds stagnation as an artist”
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