AI Voice Controversy Hits Tomb Raider Remasters: French and Brazilian Actors Take Legal Action

Remastered Tomb Raider games allegedly used AI to change Lara Croft's French voice

Françoise Cadol is the voice actor for Lara Croft in the French localizations of the Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered games. She has sent a legal notice to the games' publisher, Aspyr, alleging that a recent patch used artificial intelligence to alter her performance without her consent. The news was originally reported by French publication and picked up by . According to August 2025 for the remastered game collection, Tomb Raider VI was updated with some adjustments to its sound and audio. The latest update "fixed issues where various voice-overs and voicelines were too quiet, particularly in the Brazilian Portuguese localization" and "some voice-overs that were missing on the Steam build have been restored." According to Le Parisien, fans alerted Cadol that the French version of the updated game seemed to differ from her original delivery, which they suspected were the result of the game using artificial intelligence. She has now filed a formal notice against Aspyr asking for sales of the game collection to be paused so the issue can be resolved. We've reached out to Aspyr for comment and will update this story if we receive a response. Actors both on screen and behind the mic have been mobilizing to protect themselves against unapproved AI recreations as the tech gains more popularity. The SAG-AFTRA union launched a against several video game companies last summer in an effort to gain better protections for performers as AI use grows, and questions around AI in voicework as the parties hammered out terms. The strike was in June 2025.

French voice of Lara Croft files complaint over alleged AI use in Tomb Raider remaster

Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. In context: The dispute over Lara Croft's voice isn't just about one game or one actor - it's a test case for how AI is reshaping creative work. For Françoise Cadol, whose performances have defined the Tomb Raider heroine for decades, it underscores the risk that an actor's most personal asset - their voice - can be digitally replicated without consent or pay. For publishers, it raises pressing questions about accountability in an era where production is increasingly outsourced. France's most recognizable voice of Lara Croft is taking a game publisher to court, accusing it of using artificial intelligence to recreate her performance without her consent. Cadol, who has dubbed the Tomb Raider heroine in French for decades, has filed a cease-and-desist complaint against Aspyr, the company behind the recently released Tomb Raider IV - VI Remastered. Cadol became aware of the situation after fans noticed discrepancies in the remastered version and suspected that some dialogue had been generated with AI rather than taken from her original recordings. She told Le Parisien that she felt betrayed after learning about the alleged digital imitation of her voice. Fans shared clips on social media as evidence of the game using automated speech tools in place of her actual performance. Cadol became aware of the situation after fans noticed discrepancies in the remastered version. The issue appears to be connected to Patch 2, released in mid-August, which included a modification described as "restored missing or incorrect voiceover lines in various languages (especially Brazilian Portuguese)." According to players, some of these added lines included tutorial instructions for climbing and other movements. Cadol's supporters argue that these suspected AI-generated lines differ noticeably from her original delivery, sounding more mechanical and lacking the natural inflection and tone that defined her earlier performances. As of writing, Aspyr has not yet made a public statement, and a company representative did not respond to requests for comment. The controversy extends beyond France. In Brazil, voice actor Lene Bastos, who has also portrayed Lara Croft, posted a video on Instagram acknowledging similar concerns. Bastos said fans had sent her clips highlighting voice lines they believed were generated by AI instead of recorded by her. She added that Aspyr later informed her the issue originated with an external development partner and assured her that the affected dialogue would be replaced in a forthcoming update. The dispute comes at a time when the use of AI in entertainment is under intense scrutiny. Earlier this year, the SAG-AFTRA strike in the United States focused in part on protections against studios digitally replicating performers' voices and likenesses without consent. "Basically you have to get our consent to make a digital replica of us," voice actor Ashly Burch told the BBC when the strike was temporarily suspended. "You have to tell us how you're going to use it, and then you have to compensate us fairly."

French Lara Croft taking legal action against Aspyr for AI-generated voice use in Tomb Raider remasters

Françoise Cadol, the actor who voiced the French version of Lara Croft in all of Tomb Raider games from their inception to 2008, is taking legal action against Aspyr Media for the apparent AI-generated use of her voice in the Tomb Raider 4-6 remasters. Cadol told French newspaper Le Parisien (via The Gamer) that Aspyr Media generated lines of dialogue using her voice without asking her or even notifying her. She has reportedly issued Aspyr a cease and desist demand. Examples of the allegedly AI-generated voice lines were shared on social media, and in them you can clearly hear the difference between the original Tomb Raider games and the recently remastered ones. A much more robotic reading of the lines suddenly takes over part-way through the remastered dialogue. Cadol, who has regularly dubbed for high-profile actors like Angelina Jolie, including dubbing her performance in the 2001 Tomb Raider film, was alerted to the recording discrepancies by French Tomb Raider fans. Speaking to Le Parisien, Cadol said the use of AI here was a "betrayal" of their support. "It's a game, my voice accompanies the gamers, we play together," Cadol said in a translation of the article. "Tomb Raider has been followed by a lot of people over the years, for them, it's a betrayal, a total disrespect. They are angry." Alarmingly, this isn't the only example of AI-generated voice work in the game. Brazilian actor Lene Bastos was also told by fans that her voice seemed to have been AI-generated in the remasters, and she decided to speak out about it. This prompted a reply - and apology - from Aspyr. Bastos explains in an Instagram video that Aspyr promised to remove the AI-generated lines in an update in a few weeks. It's unclear if Aspyr has contacted Cadol and said the same. We've requested comment from Aspyr. Earlier this year, the entire French cast of multiplayer shooter Apex Legends refused to sign an agreement allowing their voices to train generative AI for the game. "We are asked to give up our expertise to train the generative AI that will replace us tomorrow," commented Pascale Chemin at the time, the French voice of Wraith in Apex Legends. "We are asked to agree to what we specifically fight against. We are asked to shoot ourselves in the foot. We are asked to support AI."

Lara Croft’s French Voice Actress Alleges AI Is Replacing Her

Lara Croft ain’t real, but the many people who bring her to life are Another day in the 21st century, another fresh round of frustration and accusations that a company is using artificial intelligence to replace the labor of human beings. This time around, Françoise Cadol, Lara Croft’s French voice actress as heard in the localized version of Tomb Raider IV - VI, has issued a legal notice to Aspyr Media, which is owned by the Embracer Group, over accusations that AI was used to touch up her performances. Read More: Borderlands 4 Seems To Include A Direct Jab At Gearbox’s Former Owner Embracer As reported by Game Developer, Cadol, an outspoken critic of AI and member of the French anti-AI "Touch pas à ma VF†movement, asserts that the alleged AI use came across her radar in August, following a patch pushed by developer Aspyr to the Tomb Raider collection. These patch notes mention restored voice-overs, tweaks to volume, and other audio adjustments that, ordinarily, wouldn’t raise much concern, especially as the Brazilian Portuguese localization is the only version that the notes specifically mention. However, attentive fans spotted some unusual affectations in Cadol’s recorded performance, bringing the concern to her attention. A video from French YouTuber Kingdom of Stott documents the changes here: Starting right around 9:56, you can hear the original performance from Cadol, followed by the alleged AI version (the video is in French, so auto-translate captions help here for some of us). Despite failing French a number of times, I can recognize a clear difference in these two performances, as can many fans in the comments of this very video. Is it proof of AI use? Cadol seems to think so, describing the difference as “metallic†(via Google Translate) to French publication Le Parisien. And some recent negative reviews on the game’s Steam page are also accusing the developer of pushing AI into the game. Having worked with audio for many years myself, I can think of at least half-a-dozen other things that aren’t AI that could make the audio kinda sorta sound like this, but there’s still an undeniable rigidity that screams AI and, well, look at the times we live in. Kotaku has reached out to Aspyr Media for comment. The same video also mentions that fans have speculated AI was used in newly added loading screens a bit earlier. I’m more skeptical of that claim, but AI is getting better at hiding its trademark oddities. (Remember when it couldn’t render fingers well?) But this is the wonderfully miserable hell we find ourselves in these days, a perpetual anxiety not just that advanced tech is being used in creative works, but that industries are finding ways to cut out the human talent, the labor, that has built these works and that we come to creative productions to appreciate. Anyway, if you want an even fresher dose of our modern hellscape, check out the AI-voiced slop that’s reporting on this very AI-themed controversy that I had to sift through before finding an actual human documenting this silliness. Frakin’ Clankers.

Lara Croft's French actor pursues legal action against developer Aspyr over alleged AI replications of her work in Tomb Raider 4-6 Remastered

The character's Brazilian actor has also been affected by this, with Aspyr working to remove it Lara Croft's French voice actor is pursuing legal action against Aspyr over accusations AI was used to imitate her performance in the recent remaster. Tomb Raider 4-6 Remastered is a release I somewhat applaud because even though Tomb Raider 6 Angel Of Darkness is by far the worst game, bad games deserve to be preserved too (plus the fourth entry, The Last Revelation, is one of the best Tomb Raider games). However, my enthusiasm was quickly dampened when a host of post-launch issues came out, like Tomb Raider 4's port seemingly being unfinished, and that Brazilian voice actor Lene Bastos' performance was imitated by an AI, which Aspyr claims was done by "one of our external development partners - without our knowledge or approval." The company added in their message to Bastos that "we are working quickly to remove the AI content" with their intent for it to be submitted within the next few weeks. However, as reported by Le Parisien (via The Gamer), Bastos wasn't the only actor victim to AI replications. Speaking to Le Parisien, Françoise Cadol - the French actress for Croft as well as dubbing for actors like the Tomb Raider films' Angelina Jolie - has issued a cease and desist against Aspyr. While Cadol acted in these games originally, new voice lines used for more accurate tutorials were added to the games. "It's a game, my voice accompanies the gamers, we play together," says Cadol, who calls her fans who realized that the AI voice work was present, "the guardians of the voices." She added, "Very quickly, these buyers of the compilation realized that the voice of Lara Croft, who gives gameplay instructions, was not mine. It caused a real uproar among the community." It is somewhat likely that the same issues in the Brazilian dub were present here, and Aspyr hopefully is removing this too, but it's unclear whether the company has been in touch with Cadol.