CD Projekt Red recently confirmed it reconstructed the voice of a deceased acting using AI voice cloning software for Cyberpunk 2077‘s new Phantom Liberty DLC.
Actor Miłogost Reczek – who played Viktor Vektor in the Polish version of the game, and likely would have reprised his role for the DLC released last month – died in 2021 before the DLC even went into production.
The game developer recently stated via Bloomberg that it wanted to “pay tribute to his wonderful performance” and had full permission from the actor’s family.
In order to accomplish the task, CD Projekt Red used Respeecher, a Ukraine-based voice tech company whose previous work has included youngifying (no, that’s not a real word) Mark Hamill’s voice in the likes of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.
So, how did it work? Well, they hired another actor to speak the Reczek’s part, and then Respeecher was able to rework them into Reczek’s voice, according to CD Projekt localisation director Mikołaj Szwed.
Szwed described Reczek as “one of the best Polish voice talents.” He had also given his voice to major characters in the much loved Witcher series of games.
In a contentious time for AI, with striking Hollywood actors fighting for protections and a vote in favour of strike authorisation for video game actors, as well, this story is a little more welcome. Reczek’s family were apparently “very supportive” of the developer’s decision.
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