The player base of ARC Raiders is pleased with a decision from Embark Studios that addresses one of the major criticisms from the community: The voices in the game suddenly sound more, but finally human.
What change is the ARC Raiders community happy about? The developers of ARC Raiders have decided to re-record some of the AI-generated voicelines in the game and provide them with real voices from voice actors. This was revealed by Embark Studios CEO Patrick Söderlund in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz.
Some players in the shooter have already noticed this, as they now know why some voices suddenly sounded so different. They express on Reddit that they have already noticed that characters like Celeste or Shani sound a bit better since the last updates and indeed sound like a human.
In the interview with the CEO, however, it becomes clear that despite the previously existing criticism from the community, it is not a pacification method, but was done out of self-interest.
Embark does not want to replace humans
Why did the creators of ARC Raiders decide to do this? So far, Embark Studios has relied on AI as a technological tool for voiceovers for ARC Raiders as well as another of their games, “The Finals.” Generative AI was not used in this process. Instead, they worked with real and paid actors, whose voices they licensed for text-to-speech technologies with their permission. These were mainly used for the ping system,
However, the studio has now re-recorded a lot of voicelines in the game directly from human speakers, in order to replace previous AI lines.
There is a quality difference. A real professional actor is better than AI; that’s just how it is. We consider [AI] primarily as a production tool. We can test things internally. We can try 15 different lines without recording them and then know what we need to record. It’s also a workflow for us, but not a replacement for actors. We do not unconditionally believe in replacing humans with AI all the time.
Patrick Söderlund in conversation with GamesIndustry.biz
A decision that is well received by the player base: Based on the reactions on Reddit, this decision by Embark was a correct and necessary approach. It not only improves the overall mood in the game but also sets a sign that is significant in the current time of continuously increasing AI usage:
“The sooner people, companies, and organizations recognize that AI is merely a tool and should not be a replacement, the better,” writes 5ivepie.
The use of AI has been a frustrating thorn in the side of many players so far. That’s why they are even happier that Embark is not only changing its approach but also addressing the voicelines retroactively:
“They just keep winning. I do have many small criticisms, but that was the biggest,” finds syd_fishes.
ARC Raiders does not have a quiet community; rather the opposite. Many players do not shy away from expressing their criticism to highlight problems in the game. However, some players do not want criticism that escalates into “whining”, and reprimand their own player base: Players of ARC Raiders can no longer stand the community’s whining, blaming their frustration on the wrong people “It’s not the developers who are the problem”
Your opinion is important to us!
Do you like the article? Then let us know!