Arc Raiders' Use of AI Voices Echoes The Finals Debate

Per newly revealed information from Embark Studios, Arc Raiders seems to employ AI tools for producing some dialogue. This development strongly echoes the situation that surrounded the studio's previous success, The Finals.

Release Details

Launched on the last day of October for PS5, PC, and Microsoft's console, Arc Raiders is described as a more accessible on-ramp to the competitive survival style. Compared to more hardcore titles like Escape from Tarkov, it aims to offer a more approachable gameplay. The game has largely been strong ratings, presently achieving a highly favorable reception on the popular platform based on over 8,000 player reviews.

AI Disclosure

Within the product's Steam page, a clear disclosure regarding artificially created material raises similarities: In the production phase, we could utilize automated and generative systems to support content creation. In every instance, the final output showcases the original ideas of our development team."

Previous Controversy

The Finals, a well-received online combat game famous for its smooth gunplay and demolition-heavy maps, received negative feedback for its implementation of artificial intelligence even before its public debut. During its pre-release trial, the project's audio lead revealed in a audio program that the development team had employed artificial intelligence systems for creating dialogue lines. This announcement prompted immediate negative reaction from industry talent and game developers, who claimed that AI-generated voices were of notably lower quality compared to actor deliveries and that such practices could replace performance opportunities.

Company Position

In response, the development team explained that they had employed skilled voice actors to record original voice lines for The Finals, but expanded these with text-to-speech tools to create extra material based on those professional deliveries. The company's explanation centered on the production efficiency obtained via this approach.

Present Circumstances

Concerning Arc Raiders, the game's design director commented that the game "in no way uses generative AI whatsoever," though he did not provide details on the specific interpretation of the Steam disclosure. He did admit, however, that the identical voice system implemented in The Finals was also incorporated in Arc Raiders.

Our approach involves blend of professional actor recordings and material produced using TTS tools in our releases, depending on the requirements," commented a development team member. "Sometimes, capturing live performances where actors get together — enabling performance dynamics and tension to influence the result — is something that adds depth to our digital universes that systems cannot duplicate. In other instances, particularly if it relates to dynamic gameplay announcements, synthetic voice permits us to have tailored VO where we typically could not e.g. due to development pace."

Community Response

Initial response to the use of generative tools in Arc Raiders has been somewhat nuanced, notably in the initial period. Some players have shown clear disapproval.

• "AI voices are a stain on an otherwise incredible title," stated one player in a forum post.
• I dislike that they used it in The Finals and feel regret to hear they repeated it for this title," commented another.
• The result was quickly detectable in the dialogue delivery for one protagonist," observed a another gamer.

That said, some users have adopted a more accepting stance.

• I don't care, they compensated performers and implemented it effectively," commented one community member.
• "This is as ethical as it currently exists, unfortunately," concluded another.

The persistent controversy surrounding technology adoption in interactive entertainment looks prepared to continue as studios weigh production speed with performance standards and ethical considerations.