Embark Studios’ Arc Raiders may be a massive hit, but it has suffered its fair share of controversy due to the game’s reliance on AI voices. Based on the voices of paid actors, Embark opted to generate voice lines for the game, which drew the ire of actor Neil Newbon.
Speaking to PCGamesN last year, Newbon publicly called for Embark to go back to its actors and re-record lines now following the game’s huge success. “I don’t really get why [studios] don’t go, ‘well, at the time we couldn’t afford to it it, it was too much or too difficult, but now we’ve been super successful, why don’t we go back and actually redo the lines with actors?’”
As it turns out, that’s exactly what Embark has now done. While Embark will still use AI generated voices for lines it wants to pump out quickly, CEO Patrick Soderland has confirmed that the studio will record human-performed lines and has done since launch as “a real professional actor is better than AI; that’s just how it is”.
Speaking to FRVR, Newbon gave Embark props for actually going back and recording lines with real actors. “That’s insane, it’s crazy,” he said. “I understand their cycle is probably very tight and it’s a live game service now, but that seems crackers”, adding that the studio should be given “props” for replacing its AI content.
“I’m glad because I love that game,” he said. “That game is awesome. Props to them for actually doing it, I actually think that’s great to hear that they recognise that AI work is now as good as using real people and that they’re actually going to re-record it. I think hats off to them for doing that, that’s a good thing, and that’s good to hear.”
Newbon explained that his prior comments came after playing the extraction shooter. “I thought it was a brilliant game they made, it really still is,” he said. “I was just really kind of let down with you’ve made so much money and it’s been such a success. Like, we’re talking about pittance compared to your whole cycle.”
The Baldur’s Gate 3 and Marathon actor explained that “AI usage really bugs me”, adding that they’ve “worked on the developer’s side and understand budgets”, and that they know hiring actors is “the low end of what you’re spending”. As a performer, Newbon also can’t couldn’t help but notice how boring the AI lines were compared to human versions.
“They’re really boring,” he said. “And then the problem is the immersion gets so affected because as a player you’re in the middle of this epic battle and maybe there’s some d*ckhead who’s trying to kill you if you’re looting while you’re running away, and then you hear something that doesn’t capture the emotion of that. And you feel like, ‘Oh, all right, well, I guess it’s not that exciting any more’”.
As Newbon explains, Embark’s willingness to go back and record new lines is worth giving props to, and not every studio would make such a drastic change. Right now, there’s a huge pushback against AI generated content, largely because it does feel lifeless and cheap. Larian Studios has publicly announced that it will no longer use any AI during the remaining development of Divinity, and Games Workshop has barred the use of AI for Warhammer to protect human workers.
As for the future of Arc Raiders, Embark is currently working on the game’s Flashpoint update which releases very soon. After that, the game will see its last announced update of the year so far with the release of Riven Tides in May.
