Arc Raiders replaces AI voice lines with professional actors after player backlash

Arc Raiders replaced some of its AI-generated voice lines, using professional actors instead

In an unexpected twist, humans have taken some jobs back from AI. Embark Studios' CEO Patrick Söderlund recently told GamesIndustry.biz that the studio "re-recorded" some of the AI-generated voice lines in Arc Raiders with human voices, only after its successful launch in October. "There is a quality difference," Söderlund told GamesIndustry.biz. "A real professional actor is better than AI; that's just how it is." With Arc Raiders' player count peaking at nearly half a million users on Steam, the game's breakout success was still marred by its use of text-to-speech AI. While there was no generative AI used for the visuals of the extraction shooter, Embark Studios paid its actors for approval to license their voices for text-to-speech AI, according to Söderlund. Even though Söderlund said that the text-to-speech AI was reserved for lines "that aren't as essential to the immersion of the experience," many players weren't happy with this creative decision. Responding to the criticism, Embark Studios is seemingly reversing course and relying more on its voice actors. Söderlund said that the studio pays its voice actors for their time in the recording booth and will "continue to bring many of them back as we carry on updating the game." However, it's important to note that Söderlund told GamesIndustry.biz that "some" of the AI-generated lines were replaced by voice actors, which could indicate that the studio isn't looking to completely ditch its text-to-speech AI anytime soon.

ARC Raiders opts to replace AI-generated dialogue with professional voice actors

In a bizarre inversion of recent trends, human actors have managed to steal work from artificial intelligence. Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz recently, Embark Studios CEO Patrick Söderlund revealed that the studio had replaced AI-generated dialogue with human voices in their successful ARC Raiders game, albeit only after the successful October launch. The decision came down to quality, with Söderlund ultimately admitting that the professional voice actors still offer something that artificial intelligence cannot: "There is a quality difference. A real professional actor is better than AI; that's just how it is." Despite the game's remarkable success on Steam, with 14 million sales in February and more than 6 million weekly active users, critics have balked at the game's clunky use of text-to-speech, claiming that it harms immersion in the otherwise compelling story and world. As proof that the studio is sensitive to criticism and still eager to improve their already-launched product, the developers have identified key sections of dialogue to be "upgraded" by paid voice actors. As of now, however, there are no plans to replace all AI-generated voice content with human actors. Embark Studios also emphasized that, while some artificial intelligence was used in the dialogue, no generative AI was used in creating the game's striking, much-praised visuals. While critics of AI are quick to point out the human cost in terms of jobs lost or the damage to artistic integrity when AI trespasses into the realms of the human imagination, proponents point to the incredible cost-saving benefits of artificial intelligence, which may ultimately give more creative power to cash-strapped individuals rather than corporations. For now, however, expected more heated debates on the virtues and vices of AI as its use continues to accelerate in the gaming industry.

Arc Raiders now has fewer AI voice lines: 'A real professional actor is better than AI'

When Arc Raiders launched last fall, it received plenty of praise. It was also dragged somewhat for its use of gen-AI voices, much like in The Finals, the previous game from developer Embark Studios. In a new interview with GameIndustry.biz, studio head Patrick Söderlund disclosed that Arc Raiders has fewer AI voice lines now while also describing AI as a "production tool" in development. "We re-recorded some of the lines post-launch and made them with real voices," Söderlund said. Certain lines for the in-match ping system were generated via an AI text-to-speech model based on voice actors hired for the game. Embark's rationale was that this system was more efficient than needing to bring back voice actors to the studio for each update to the live-service extraction shooter. To Söderlund, the difference between the AI lines and recordings from real voice actors is night and day. "There is a quality difference. A real professional actor is better than AI; that's just how it is." He described how Embark views AI "first and foremost as a production tool" that allows them to test different lines before deciding what to record. "It's also a way for us to work, not replace actors. We don't necessarily believe in replacing humans with AI all the time." He also addressed the idea that using AI voices was a way around paying fair wages for voice actors. "We pay our actors for all time spent with us in the booth and continue to bring many of them back as we carry on updating the game." For "select usage," Embark also pays voice actors to license their voices for Embark's text-to-speech program. The whole interview is a fascinating look behind the curtain of how games are made. Speaking on how landscapes were created for Arc Raiders, Söderlund said, "Very little of it is AI. A lot of it is reconfiguring what I believe are old ways of working -- old toolsets, old pipelines, old engines, and saying there must be a better way of doing this." Though Embark's use of AI in development may be waning, at least for those voice lines, the CEO of its publisher believes AI use is widespread in game development. Nexon CEO Junghun Lee also drew controversy last year by saying in an interview, "I think it's important to assume that every game company is now using AI." Other developers called "bullshit." No matter what, though, fervor around AI and how it can be used in game development isn't going anywhere. It was a major talking point at the Game Developers Conference this year, though nobody actually knows what to do with it.

Arc Raiders CEO says studio has "re-recorded" AI lines: "A real professional actor is better than AI; that's just how it is"

Arc Raiders developer Embark Studios has re-recorded some of its AI-generated voice lines, acknowledging "there is a quality difference" between lines recorded by human actors and those generated by AI. "We use AI as tools to assist in some content creation, but it's always in the context of creativity, as an expression of the team," CCO Stefan Strandberg told Eurogamer back in October. "[Text-to-speech] allows us to increase the scope of the game in some areas where we think it's needed, or where there's tedious repetition, in situations where the voice actors may not see it as valuable work. So it's a wide umbrella, but the experience of the game doesn't use any generative AI," he said. Now, however, talking to our sister site GamesIndustry.biz, CEO Patrick Söderlund has revealed the studio has since "re-recorded some of the lines post-launch". "We pay our actors for all time spent with us in the booth and continue to bring many of them back as we carry on updating the game," the CEO explained. "For select usage, we also pay them for the approval to license their voices through text-to-speech for lines that aren't as essential to the immersion of the experience, mostly ping system audio. "We re-recorded some of the lines post-launch and made them with real voices," he added. "There is a quality difference. A real professional actor is better than AI; that's just how it is. We look at [AI] first and foremost as a production tool. We can test things internally. We can test 15 different lines without recording them, and then we know what to record. It's also a way for us to work, not replace actors. We don't necessarily believe in replacing humans with AI all the time." In other Arc Raiders news, Discord has responded to a recent data security issue that arose with Arc Raiders' Discord Integration, which was storing users' private Discord messages locally on their PCs. While this has now been hotfixed by the developers at Embark, a Discord spokesperson said it was "providing guidance to developers and updating the Discord Social SDK with additional protections".

Arc Raiders Replacing AI-Generated Voices With Human Actors

Arc Raiders was one of the biggest games of 2025, and it continues to be incredibly popular on Steam. But its use of AI-generated voice lines rubbed many the wrong way. Now, Embark Studios CEO Patrick Söderlund says the team has replaced many of the text-to-speech lines with real human-recorded dialogue that is "better" than the AI slop featured at launch. When Embark's extraction shooter Arc Raiders launched in October on consoles and PC, it became one of the most-played games around and received rave reviews from critics and fans. Yet there was some tension around the game's release when it was revealed that many of the in-game voice lines heard when pinging a location were created using AI text-to-speech built using audio provided by actors who were paid a licensing fee. For some, this was not acceptable and marred the launch of Arc Raiders. The CEO of Nexon, the game's publisher, said all studios were using AI tools, and that's just the way it is. But Söderlund and his team seem to be reversing course a bit. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Söderlund explained "a lot" of the in-game voice lines in Arc Raiders are recorded by human actors and there are now fewer AI-generated lines in the game than there were when it launched last year. "We re-recorded some of the lines post-launch and made them with real voices," Söderlund told the outlet, clarifying that they don't want to "replace" real performers. "There is a quality difference. A real professional actor is better than AI; that's just how it is. We look at [AI] first and foremost as a production tool. We can test things internally. We can test 15 different lines without recording them, and then we know what to record. It's also a way for us to work, not replace actors. We don't necessarily believe in replacing humans with AI all the time." Söderlund also explained that the studio pays its actors for "all time spent" in the booth recording lines and that it continues to "bring many of them back as we carry on updating the game." And in some "select" situations, Embark pays actors for "approval to license their voices through text-to-speech" for audio lines that aren't as "essential to the immersion of the experience." This is mostly for location pings. The big takeaway here is that Söderlund seems to understand that AI-generated content is still not popular among players and is trying to reassure people that Arc Raiders has less of it than before. But it still contains and will likely continue to use text-to-speech voice lines, and for some players, that will remain a dealbreaker.

Arc Raiders' AI Voice Lines Were Re-Recorded by Human Actors After Launch

Arc Raiders was criticised for using AI-generated voice lines Arc Raiders, the hit extraction shooter from Embark Studios, launched in October last year and faced criticism for its use of AI-generated voice lines. Months after the game's launch, Embark CEO Patrick Söderlund has said the studio re-recorded some of the AI voices with human performers and has acknowledged the "quality difference" between the two. Arc Raiders' AI Voice Lines Re-Recorded Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Söderlund said Arc Raiders now has fewer AI voice lines than it had at launch. "We re-recorded some of the lines post-launch and made them with real voices," Söderlund told the publication in a recent interview. Embark faced flak in the weeks following the launch of Arc Raiders for the use of AI-generated voice lines in the game. According to the studio, some voice lines in Arc Raiders utilised licensed human voices generated via text-to-speech tools. While Söderlund maintained that the AI voice lines were mostly utilised for the in-game ping system audio, but acknowledged that re-recorded human voices were much better. "There is a quality difference. A real professional actor is better than AI; that's just how it is," he said. The executive said Embark used AI as a production tool to test things internally and didn't "necessarily believe in replacing humans with AI all the time." Arc Raiders has been a major success for Sweden-based Embark Studios. The PvPvE extraction shooter has sold over 12 million copies since it launched on October 30 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series S/X. Embark has continued to provide regular post-launch updates for Arc Raiders, releasing several patches that have added new content to the game. In January, Embark shared a four-month content roadmap for the game, confirming new Arc robots, map conditions, rewards, and a new map that will be released as part of an update in April. Most recently, Embark rolled out Update 1.19.0 to Arc Raiders, that added a new cosmetic to the game, along with a host of gameplay fixes.

Embark CEO Says 'Some' Arc Raiders AI Voice Lines Were Re-Recorded by Humans Post-Launch: 'There Is a Quality Difference' - IGN

"We don't necessarily believe in replacing humans with AI all the time." Embark Studios CEO Patrick Söderlund says Arc Raiders now contains fewer AI voice lines than it did at launch after the team re-recorded some lines with real actors. Söderlund offered an update on the studio's views regarding artificial intelligence during an interview with GamesIndustry.biz. Among various updates that have brought new enemies, cosmetics, locations, and more, he says the team has already replaced some of its heavily criticized AI content with performances from real human beings. "We re-recorded some of the lines post-launch and made them with real voices," Söderlund said. "There is a quality difference. A real professional actor is better than AI; that's just how it is. We look at [AI] first and foremost as a production tool. We can test things internally. We can test 15 different lines without recording them, and then we know what to record. It's also a way for us to work, not replace actors. We don't necessarily believe in replacing humans with AI all the time." Arc Raiders came out of 2025 not only as a massive success for Embark, but also as one of the breakout hits of the year. One stain on its ascent, however, revolves around how fans responded to the team's use of AI voices for many of its in-game characters. Even as complaints piled, publisher Nexon defended its use of the controversial technology, telling Game*Spark in November that players should "assume that every game company is now using AI." Although Söderlund assures that some AI content has already been re-recorded, it's currently unclear if there is any plan to eventually replace all AI material in question. He also wants fans to know that "a lot" of the voice lines in Arc Raiders were recorded by humans, adding that those who have contributed their voices to the game have been compensated for their work and time. "We pay our actors for all time spent with us in the booth and continue to bring many of them back as we carry on updating the game," he said. "For select usage, we also pay them for the approval to license their voices through text-to-speech for lines that aren't as essential to the immersion of the experience, mostly ping system audio." Arc Raiders launched for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S October 30, 2025. We gave it it a 9/10 in our review upon its release, saying at the time that it "sets a new standard for extraction shooters." It's unclear how many copies have been sold in the five months since its launch, but we do at least know it managed to pass 12.4 million copies sold in January and 14 million by February. We spoke with Söderlund about Arc Raiders' past, present, and future last month to learn more about how Embark brought its PvPvE vision to life. He also confirmed that reports of its $75 million budget were "ballpark" correct.