Astarion actor Neil Newbon doesn’t get why games like Arc Raiders using ‘dull as hell’ AI for voice work don’t ‘go back and actually redo the lines with actors’ once they make it big
AI-generated voice ‘acting’—despite the fact I’ve never heard an example that hasn’t immediately made me less interested in a videogame—has still become more ubiquitous in gaming. Arc Raiders, by all accounts a dang successful videogame, uses it for text-to-speech lines.
Speaking to PCGamesN, the voice actor for Baldur’s Gate 3’s Astarion, Neil Newbon (who knows a little bit about voice acting because he’s won friggin awards for it), was very down on AI voiceover, echoing statements both he and his fellow BG3 cast members have made before on the subject:
“Comparatively speaking, the amount of money it costs to do those voice lines compared to the rest of the game’s development is peanuts. When a game’s successful, I don’t really get why [developers] don’t go ‘well, at the time we couldn’t afford to do it—it was too much or too difficult—but now we’ve been super successful, why don’t we go back and actually redo the lines with actors?’ That’s an option; I’m just saying.”
It’s hard not to empathise with Newbon, here. The rational, sensible grown adult in me whole-heartedly agrees with him—compared to other development costs, hiring someone to go into a booth for a couple hours is basically nothing, especially when your game’s making a million bucks.
The cynical goblin in my heart I’ve got locked up in a basement is, unfortunately, completely unsurprised that a studio like Embark would go for the cheaper, tackier option simply because it’s… well, cheaper. We’re in an industry plagued by layoffs where seemingly history-blind and overambitious executives make big, stupid decisions, then turn around and grind studios through crunch and burnout while they buy vintage cars with their paychecks.
Point being, we are not necessarily dealing with sensible people here—if all you care about’s a budget, then why make something better if no-one’s complaining all that much?
“I don’t really think it’s legitimate,” Newbon continues. “If you’re going to not record the lines in the first place and just use AI to take somebody’s voice and manipulate it however the hell you want, that’s a problem. You’re robbing that performer of that day’s fee, and you’re robbing that performer of the ability to look after themselves or their family—most actors, notoriously, are not rich. Most of us struggle [for] our entire career.”
Andrew Wilson, the CEO of EA, took home 260 times more money than what the median EA employee made this year. I share this not to argue with Newbon, more to just—sigh and nod along with him. Anyway: “The justification is difficult. ‘Ah, we couldn’t really afford it;’ well, maybe find a way, now that you’ve made your money, to go back over those lines and do it better.”
