One of FC 26's commentators confirms that EA uses an AI replicating his voice to record new lines

In many of the biggest, most popular games and series, we’re starting to see AI-generated or AI-assisted assets slowly creep in. Call of Duty’s calling cards, for example, or Arc Raiders’ text-to-speech system for generating dialog. While there’s always some level of pushback and disgruntlement, there’s a growing amount of acceptance or indifference to it as well. It seems that the EA Sports FC series has jumped on the wagon too, with iconic soccer commentator and FC 26 star Guy Mowbray giving EA permissions to use an AI version of his voice to generate new lines of commentary.

This has largely flown under the radar – I certainly missed it, and I can’t see anyone being massively up in arms about it online either – but FC 26 does have a generative AI disclosure on its Steam page, as Valve requires. A quick check on an internet archive site, and I’ve been able to verify that it was added to the Steam page before the game launched on September 25, 2025. “Generative AI may have been used in creating pre-rendered or live-generated content for this game,” it reads. “All such content is the result of a human-led artistic and creative process.”

That’s rather vague, and there’s been nothing in the sports game itself that’s screamed to me as being AI-generated, but according to a report by the BBC, the well-renowned slog of recording commentary for EA Sports FC (and previously FIFA) games now gets a helping hand from AI.

There are over 20,000 player names in FC 26, all of which need to be recorded in various tones depending on the context of where they are on the pitch and what action they’re performing. The BBC report claims that EA gives Mowbray “some help here, with part of that process involving AI replicating his voice with his permission for some of the names.” The report isn’t clear on whether other FC 26 commentators across all of its supported languages rely on this AI assistance. It also doesn’t state if these AI-assisted lines are in FC 26 right now, or if this is being used to help Mowbray record commentary for the new game inevitably dropping this year. PCGamesN has reached out to EA for clarification on both of these points.

In a statement given to the BBC, EA says: “AI has long been part of our development pipeline – from animation to gameplay systems – and continues to support our teams in making better, more responsive football experiences. But when it comes to commentary and content, it’s always a collaboration with our talent – not a replacement.”

While AI is being used to help Mowbray record those thousands of player names, it does appear that longer lines of commentary are not affected by gen-AI. “Say there is a scenario where a team is crossing the halfway line but we don’t know if it will develop into anything,” Mowbray tells the BBC. “So, I might say, ‘Oh a promising attack, what could they do from here?’ as a line of commentary to explain that – but we need ten different ways of doing that, so I will have to think of another nine ways of saying it. It can’t be scripted for me because it has got to be in my style and how I would say it in real life, so I have to think of those lines myself. It’s the same for Sue [Smith] on co-comms – she will need ten different ways of adding insight or colour too.” Sue Smith has commentated alongside Mowbray on FC 24, FC 25, and the current game.

It’s been well-known for a long time that commentators in sports games, especially international soccer sims like EA FC, require a lot of time in the recording booth. Between the months of November and July, Mowbray says that recording commentary for the next game in the series is part of his “weekly routine.” Given EA’s positive stance on AI tools, and the partnership with Stability AI that it announced last year, it’s unsurprising to see it implementing the technology in an area as time-consuming as this.

However, it’ll have to tread carefully. So far, it seems whatever model they’re using is unintrusive enough for players not to notice a difference in quality – either that, or as I mentioned, it’s not actually used AI-generated voice lines in FC 26, and this is a new initiative that’s been introduced as Mowbray records his commentary for FC 27. If there comes a point where it does become noticeable, EA may have a problem on its hands.

One of the biggest critiques of Arc Raiders, despite its huge success, was its robotic and bland dialog. Developer Embark Studios hires voice actors but then uses them to train an AI text-to-speech system, which can then generate new NPC comments or in-game callouts in a consistent voice. Sure, it didn’t massively affect the game in terms of sales or player retention (and probably won’t in a series like EA FC either) but it’s a controversial mark against its name for many.