Embark recently announced an open test for The Finals ahead of its launch. While the beta was so successful that players had to wait in line, the studio was also attacked by fans and professional voice actors for its evident usage of AI-generated voices. The use of AI in games has proven increasingly controversial in the gaming industry particularly when it comes to voice performances.
On X, voice actor Gianni Matragrano, who has been in Evil West, Vertigo 2, and other games, criticized producer Embark Studios’ decision to employ AI-generated voices.
#TheFinals criticized over the use of #AI for character voices: https://t.co/iVzxrDVLb3 via @Gamegeeksnews@fanscott1234 @rt_tsb @PlayerInzane@korvin_7 @golfimbulls @NORTHERN_R78 @247VideoGame @brew_geeks @KrazySonya @Emmasmith100 @UpStreamRetweet
— The Official Game Geeks News (@GameGeeksNews) October 31, 2023
Embark Studios, the developer of The Finals, has responded to criticism over the use of AI-generated voices in its free-to-play shooter, saying that it is not looking to build games without voice actors.
Embark told IGN in a statement that “making games without actors isn’t an end goal.” According to an Embark studio representative, “we use a combination of recorded voice audio and audio generated via TTS tools in our games, depending on the context.”
Why is Embark’s use of AI Voices justified?
On the podcast episode, Andreas from Embark Studios justified The Finals‘ use of AI voice. “The reason that we go this route is that AI text-to-speech is finally extremely powerful,” he went on to say. “It gets us far enough in terms of quality while also allowing us to be extremely responsive to new ideas and keep things really, really fresh.”
However, as stated by Embark, the sounds generated by AI for the Finals are based on a mix of professional voice actors and temp voices from Embark employees.
#TheFinals Developer Responds To #AI Voice Acting Criticism. #EmbarkStudios says, ‘We use a combination of recorded voice audio and audio generated via #TTS tools in our #games, depending on the context’ https://t.co/fw9BnkXzzm
— BeyondGames.biz (@BeyondGamesbiz) November 1, 2023
Despite all the criticism, some people are also justifying the use of AI voices in The Finals. Some players have gone on to admire the commentators’ dynamic character. They have claimed that in The Finals, the announcers are dynamic and it would be extremely difficult to recreate the same experience if they had to record every random team name or the stuff they do.
The Finals is Embark Studios’ second title. Moreover, The Finals is Embark Studios’ first game which is free to play. This Studio was formed in 2018 by a group of veterans from the gaming industry. Since they are new to the industry, they do not have huge amounts of money or manpower to invest in their games.
Embark therefore needs to come up with innovative solutions to save costs in their game development. Therefore, it seems somewhat reasonable for them to use AI voices in The Finals. Moreover, Embark stated that AI for the Finals is based on a mix of professional voice actors and temp voices from Embark employees.