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Per developer statements from the game's developer, Arc Raiders appears to utilize AI tools for creating some spoken content. This news strongly echoes the issue that arose with the studio's earlier release, The Finals.

Release Details

Launched on October 30 for PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Microsoft's console, Arc Raiders is positioned as a gentler introduction to the loot-and-extract category. Compared to more hardcore titles like Escape from Tarkov, it aims to offer a user-friendly gameplay. The game has mostly received positive feedback, currently holding a highly favorable score on the popular platform based on thousands of player reviews.

Technology Statement

On the game's official store listing, a notice regarding artificially created material draws comparisons: In the production phase, we might apply automated and generative systems to facilitate asset production. Regardless of method, the final output reflects the original ideas of our studio staff."

Past Issue

The Finals, a successful multiplayer first-person shooter known for its fluid combat and dynamic battlefields, encountered backlash for its implementation of artificial intelligence ahead of its full release. During its public testing phase, the project's audio lead mentioned in a podcast interview that the development team had leveraged AI tools for producing dialogue lines. This statement generated instant criticism from voice actors and industry professionals, who claimed that synthetic speech were of inferior standard compared to human performances and that such methods could eliminate voice-acting jobs.

Studio Explanation

In response, the development team stated that they had hired professional performers to produce primary voice lines for The Finals, but expanded these with synthetic voice systems to generate additional lines based on those original recordings. The developer's reasoning focused on the development speed obtained via this method.

Current Situation

Regarding Arc Raiders, the title's creative lead clarified that the release "in no way uses AI generation whatsoever," though he declined to elaborate on the specific interpretation of the store notice. He did acknowledge, however, that the identical voice system employed in The Finals was also incorporated in Arc Raiders.

Our approach involves mix of live performance content and audio generated via TTS tools in our titles, depending on the situation," explained a studio representative. "Sometimes, capturing live performances where actors get together — enabling performance dynamics and conflict to shape the outcome — is something that contributes richness to our virtual environments that AI cannot replicate. For different situations, especially when it involves contextual in-game action call-outs, synthetic voice permits us to have tailored VO where we otherwise wouldn't e.g. due to speed of implementation."

Community Response

Initial response to the use of generative tools in Arc Raiders has been fairly varied, especially during the initial period. A portion of the community have expressed strong opposition.

• Artificial intelligence dialogue is a flaw in an generally excellent experience," wrote one gamer in a community thread.
• I oppose that they implemented it in The Finals and feel regret to hear they repeated it for this game," responded another.
• The effect was quickly detectable in the vocal lines for one protagonist," observed a another gamer.

That said, different gamers have taken a more tolerant attitude.

• I don't care, they hired talent and applied it appropriately," wrote one forum user.
• This represents the most responsible as it is possible nowadays, unfortunately," continued another.

The persistent controversy surrounding technology adoption in game development seems likely to persist as studios weigh development pace with performance standards and ethical considerations.