Red Hook Studios refuses AI voice for deceased Darkest Dungeon narrator Wayne June

Darkest Dungeon studio refuses to AI generate deceased narrator's voice despite his permission: 'I would never, ever erode his incredible and timeless performances'

Darkest Dungeon is one of the best dungeon crawlers period, and a huge part of its appeal is the dour, gravely tones of a mysterious "ancestor" who narrates your every move. The man behind the musings, Wayne June, sadly died last year -- and in the wake of news like this, a ghoulish question tends to arise: who, or what, could fill his shoes? Red Hook co-founder Chris Bourassa took to Reddit last week to clarify that it certainly won't be AI. "In one of his last emails to me, Wayne gave us permission to train an AI on his voice, something he'd staunchly opposed prior to the end. We'd never asked to do it. I think he was trying to put the game/team/fans first -- offer us a 'way forward,'" Bourassa wrote. "I declined, and we donated to his family anyway. "I would never, ever erode his incredible and timeless performances by teaching a machine to sound like him. His voice and delivery was human, and I'm forever grateful I got to write for him." Comments on the thread are elated by the stance. "It's refreshing to hear yourself and the Red Hook team honour Wayne's memory like this," commented user Figgymcslickback. "Bravo sir." User RiR_Crayon concurred: "Red Hook doing giga chad moves as always." "So glad to hear it," wrote user Curnbabs. "You're never gonna be able to train an AI to do this properly. You guys are gonna find someone else. It's going to be different, but that is not a bad thing." It speaks volumes to the potency of June's performances that he left such an impact on players, despite the fact that the Darkest Dungeon games are his only listed videogame credits (though he was also in Dota 2 in a Darkest Dungeon-themed announcer pack, and collaborated with PC Gamer on occasion). If you want to hear more of his voice work, he narrated a fair few audiobooks and has a YouTube channel with readings of stories by H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe. He also used it to share this incredible shitpost where the Ancestor hosts a cooking show. AI voice acting may have found a place in games like The Finals and Arc Raiders, but even Embark's CEO has conceded that real voice work is better than its artificial counterpart. Voice actors in the gaming industry have been outspoken about AI's inability to give a truly human performance, and even if the team at Red Hook were willing to take June up on his offer, the notion that the resulting line reads would compare to the man's actual work is farcical.

'His Voice and Delivery Was Human' -- Darkest Dungeon Dev Says Red Hook Will Never Use AI to Replicate the Voice of Late Narrator Wayne June

"I would never, ever erode his incredible and timeless performances by teaching a machine to sound like him." Darkest Dungeon developer Red Hook Studios has said it won't use AI to replicate the voice of deceased voice actor Wayne June. Studio co-founder Chris Bourassa spoke about how the passing of the iconic narrator will affect the series going forward in a reply to a post on the Darkest Dungeon subreddit (via Kotaku). He told fans to rest assured that Red Hook will "never, ever erode" June's legacy by using AI to attempt to copy his performance. "In one of his last emails to me, Wayne gave us permission to train an AI on his voice, something he'd staunchly opposed prior to the end," Bourassa said. "We'd never asked to do it. I think he was trying to put the game/team/fans first - offer us a 'way forward.' I declined, and we donated to his family anyway." Red Hook confirmed that June had passed away in January 2025. Bourassa shared a message at the time, saying that it was "one of my life's greatest honors to have written for him" for the 10 years the actor contributed his voice to Darkest Dungeon. He added, "Though I never got to shake his hand, I knew him to be a friend." June's work on Darkest Dungeon helped bring its dim-lit world to life with the launch of the original in 2016 and again with the sequel in 2023. Bourassa is all too aware of the important role the narration played in the franchise, which is exactly why you won't hear a hollow imitation made by artificial intelligence in any future installments. "I would never, ever erode his incredible and timeless performances by teaching a machine to sound like him," Bourassa added in the Reddit reply. "His voice and delivery was *human, and I'm forever grateful I got to write for him." Fears of AI replacing both the living and the dead have only heightened in recent years. Master Chief actor Steve Downes spoke out against AI versions of his voice in January of this year. In 2024, Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. threatened to sue any executive who recreated his likeness using artificial intelligence, whether he is alive to see it happen or not. As Deep as the Grave came under fire from movie fans just this year after the team behind it announced that it would feature an AI recreation of actor Val Kilmer, who died last year. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, meanwhile, announced rule updates earlier this month that will bar AI performances from being nominated for Oscars in 2027.