CD Projekt Red wants Cyberpunk 2077's sequel, codenamed Orion, to undergo a similar evolution to that of The Witcher franchise.
13.10.2023 - 09:47 / ign.com / Ai
Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt used AI to replace a deceased voice actor after gaining permission from the family.
Miłogost Reczek was a Polish voice actor best known as the Polish dub for Homer Simpson in The Simpsons Movie, as well as Vesemir and Thaler in The Witcher games and doctor Viktor Vektor in Cyberpunk 2077. He died in December 2021 aged 60.
Bloomberg reported Reczek’s family gave CD Projekt permission to recreate his voice using AI for the recently released expansion, Phantom Liberty. CD Projekt localization director Mikołaj Szwed is quoted as saying the developer didn’t want to find a replacement for the late actor and re-record his lines. “We didn’t like this approach,” Szwed explained, as Reczek “was one of the best Polish voice talents” and his performance “was stellar”.
CD Projekt instead hired a different voice actor who performed new lines for Vik, then used voice-cloning software Respeecher to change the dialogue so it sounded like Reczek. Szwed said: “This way we could keep his performance in the game and pay tribute to his wonderful performance as Viktor Vektor,” Szwed said.
The use of AI in video game development is one of the hottest topics in the industry, with voice actors in particular expressing concern about the future of their profession. Last month, members of Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) voted to authorise a strike as a part of the resumption of bargaining over the guild’s Interactive Media Agreement, which governs voice, motion capture, and other actors working in video games. While this doesn’t mean a strike is currently happening, it does mean that SAG-AFTRA negotiators have the power to call one if negotiations continue to stagnate.
One of the key issues is the need for protection against the encroachment of AI technology. “We want to ensure that they don't replace all the humans with computers,” Interactive Negotiating Committee member Zeke Alton told IGN. “Not a prohibition on it, but just as we move forward with the technology, how do we move with it and not get left behind.”
“We're having the argument now specifically about these AI algorithms and they are wiping out large portions of the workforce,” Alton continued. “And so if we lose that and set the precedent for corporations to remove the lower levels of their workforce using algorithms, that then proliferates into every workforce on the planet, and that can have disastrous results for the economy and for society as a whole. That's why this is an existential fight, not just for us, but to anybody else out there watching: you're next. And would you like to have the precedent of being protected or the precedent of being removed?”
In the summer, voice
CD Projekt Red wants Cyberpunk 2077's sequel, codenamed Orion, to undergo a similar evolution to that of The Witcher franchise.
Following a notoriously bumpy launch in 2020, CD Projekt Red successfully redeemed and revived Cyberpunk 2077 with several updates and the excellent Phantom Liberty expansion. But the Polish developer supposedly took a “significant” morale hit from the game’s troublesome development and is looking to do things differently with future release, including The Witcher 4.
CD Projekt Red’s Colin Walder had a discussion with Inven Global, and he spoke at length about his career and his time at CD Projekt Red. He also gives some insight into what was going down around the time of Cyberpunk 2077‘s disastrous launch which resulted in it being pulled from the PS Store. The interview isn’t all sour, however, as he also discusses the lessons the studio learned and the changes that occurred.
CD Projekt Red used AI to replace the voice actor Miłogost Reczek in Cyberpunk 2077 following his passing in 2021.
As reported by Bloomberg, it's been revealed that CD Projekt used AI to replicate the voice of the late Miłogost Reczek, who voiced Night City's most reliable ripper doc, Viktor Vektor, in the base game's Polish localisation back in 2020.
CD Projekt Red might have stumbled a bit when they got Cyberpunk 2077 out the door and into the hands of the public. It was filled with bugs and poor optimization, which even prompted Sony to remove the game from their digital storefront for a period. However, the studio continued to work through the issues and delivered players with a series of patches to bring the game up to their standards. Now, the latest big update and expansion added a new area and content to take in. With that said, there was one obstacle developers had to figure out, and it was based on a deceased voice actor.
CD Projekt Red has used a combination of AI and a new voice actor to record new lines for a Cyberpunk 2077 character in Phantom Liberty.
CD Projekt turned to AI technology to replicate a Cyberpunk 2077 Polish voice actor who passed away in 2021.
If you've ever spoken to the ripperdoc character Viktor Vektor in the Polish localisation of Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty expansion, you've been talking to a cyborg. Technically, of course, most characters in Cyberpunk 2077 are cyborgs, but in this case, I'm referring to one voice actor posing as another using voice-cloning technology, following the second actor's death.
Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty includes the voice of a deceased actor from the base game, replicated using an AI algorithm by developer CD Projekt Red for the DLC campaign. The technology was used to recreate the sound of the late Miłogost Reczek, who voices delightfully named ripperdoc Viktor Vektor in the base game, with the permission from his family.
Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red used AI to recreate the voice of a deceased Polish actor for the Phantom Libery expansion, a new report revealed.
Cyberpunk 2077 publisher and developer CD Projekt used AI to recreate the voice of a deceased actor.