Warhorse Studios fires Kingdom Come: Deliverance II translator, switches to AI for localization
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Kingdom Come: Deliverance II studio axes human translator in favor of AI
Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. Cutting corners: After its release to generally positive reviews in February 2025, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II sold several million copies worldwide. Czech developer Warhorse Studios is not exactly
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Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 developer claims AI is replacing them
A former Warhorse Studios developer indicated that the Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 studio will be using AI for all localization going forward. This comes as more developers face backlash over the implementation of generative AI in their games. On Saturday, Czech-to-English translator and editor
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Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 translator says he was 'fired from Warhorse Studios and replaced with AI'
"If you've ever played KCD2 in English, you've quite likely seen my work." Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 was a big hit last year and took home PC Gamer's GOTY award, but developer Warhorse has had a strange week when it comes to AI. Game director Daniel Vávra took to X to defend DLSS 5 last Monday,
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Translator On Kingdom Come 2 Claims He Was Replaced With AI
Max Hejtmánek, the English editor and voice-over director behind Warhorse Studios’ 2025 GOTY-nominated hit Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, has claimed that his position at Warhorse Studios was made “obsolete†last night after the Czech developer told him the RPG studio would be “using AI for
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Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 dev says he was "fired" and replaced with AI: "I feel incredibly betrayed by the management of the company I've come to care about"
"The growing use of AI greatly affects people in the games industry and many others" A Warhorse Studios employee alleges the Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 developer "fired" him and is replacing his job with AI. Max Hejtmanek took to the game's official subreddit, in a post verified by Reddit
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Kingdom Come Developer Warhorse Studios Allegedly Fired Its Translator, Claiming Their Position Was Made "Obsolete" by AI
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 developer Warhorse Studios has allegedly fired its in-house voice-over director and Czech to English translator and editor, Max Hejtmánek, suddenly, and without warning, after telling him that his role was made "obsolete in favor of using AI for all translations going
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Max Hejtmánek, who translated Kingdom Come: Deliverance II from Czech to English for nearly four years, was fired by Warhorse Studios on March 27, 2026. The studio told him his position became obsolete as AI will now handle all translations going forward. The move comes despite the game's commercial success, selling several million copies and earning GOTY nominations.
Warhorse Studios Replaces Human Translator with AI
Max Hejtmánek, a Czech-to-English translator who worked at Warhorse Studios for nearly four years, was fired on March 27, 2026, with no prior warning
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. According to his verified post on the Kingdom Come subreddit, management told him his position would become obsolete as AI would handle all translations going forward2
. The decision came in an effort to "make the company more effective" and "save finances," despite Kingdom Come: Deliverance II selling several million copies worldwide following its February 2025 release1
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Source: Wccftech
Hejtmánek served as English editor and voice-over director for Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, working on dialogue, quest logs, item names, and marketing materials . His Czech-to-English translation work formed the foundation for other localized editions of the game, meaning players worldwide have likely encountered his contributions
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. The translator's LinkedIn profile confirms his employment from July 2022 through March 20262
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Source: PC Gamer
Job Displacement Shocks Gaming Industry Veteran
The translator replaced with AI expressed feeling "incredibly betrayed by the management of the company I've come to care about greatly these past almost 4 years"
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. Max Hejtmánek revealed that while discussions about using AI for translating had come up frequently in the past, he was "always strongly and vocally against" the technology but never imagined it would actually cost him his job3
.The fired translator was still actively working on additional content or a separate project for Warhorse Studios at the time of his termination . He stated he will not violate his non-disclosure agreement but plans to share his experience publicly, emphasizing that "the growing use of AI greatly affects people in the games industry and many others"
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. Hejtmánek urged fans not to review-bomb Kingdom Come: Deliverance II or harass other Warhorse staff members3
.AI Adoption Signals Shift in Game Localization Strategy
Warhorse Studios is now switching to LLM-based machine translations for future projects, making Kingdom Come: Deliverance II likely the studio's last game to receive a human translation
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. This pivot toward AI in game development comes despite the game's critical acclaim, including nominations for Best Narrative, Game of the Year, and Best Role Playing Game at The Game Awards 20252
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Source: TechSpot
The move aligns with statements from Daniel Vávra, Warhorse co-founder and Kingdom Come: Deliverance II director, who recently defended Nvidia's DLSS5 technology on social media
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. Vávra described the AI-powered graphics technology as "just a little uncanny beginning" and insisted that "haters will not stop progress," signaling the studio's broader embrace of AI adoption1
.Related Stories
Generative AI Sparks Backlash Across Gaming Industry
The use of generative AI by game developers remains a controversial topic, with backlash typically immense whenever studios implement the technology
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. Just days before Hejtmánek's firing, Crimson Desert faced derision over using generative AI for in-game art assets2
. While AI permeates events like GDC, concerns about job security and quality in game localization continue to mount.Fans responding to the news expressed disappointment that AI will be used in any part of the creative writing process, even for language translation
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. One subreddit commenter warned, "Warhorse if you're in here you're gonna set your next game up for failure with decisions like this. People don't like this kind of crap"4
. The incident highlights growing tensions between cost savings initiatives and maintaining the human touch that contributes to quality localization in the gaming industry.References
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