Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red used AI to replicate a voice actor in its Phantom Liberty expansion.
Per Bloomberg, Cyberpunk 2077’s Miłogost Reczek passed away in 2021. The actor had previously played V’s friend Viktor Vektor in the base game, but CD Projekt Red planned to bring back the character for Phantom Liberty in a small role. At first, the team debated recasting Viktor and recording the lines from the main game to maintain continuity. However, the developers agreed it would be disrespectful to Reczek.
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“We didn’t like this approach,” said CD Projekt localization director Mikołaj Szwed. He explained that Reczek “was one of the best Polish voice talents,” calling his performance “stellar.” Ultimately, they received permission from Reczek’s sons to use AI so they “could keep his performance in the game and pay tribute to his wonderful performance as Viktor Vektor.” Ultimately, the developer contacted Reczek’s family and got permission to use AI for the expansion. According to Szwed, Reczek’s sons fully supported the idea.
CD Projekt Red used Respeecher to create the AI performance. In this technique, the team had another actor record the lines. Then, they ran the performance through the program and made it sound like the actor. Respeecher did this through the use of Reczek’s past work as samples.
The use of AI to recreate Reczek’s performance comes at a time when SAG-AFTRA is striking partly against such uses of the technology. In recent years, AI has threatened actors and writers, with some companies showing a shift toward using it as a time and money saver. The Writers Guild of America just finished negotiations with Hollywood to prevent AI replacement in writing.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. The expansion, Phantom Liberty, is only available on the PS5.
