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According to developer statements from the studio behind the title, Arc Raiders reportedly make use of artificial intelligence technology for producing some spoken content. This revelation is strikingly similar to the debate that emerged around the developer's 2023 hit, The Finals.

Game Overview

Launched on October 30th for PS5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X, Arc Raiders is positioned as a gentler introduction to the extraction shooter genre. Compared to complex games like Escape from Tarkov, it strives to offer a welcoming gameplay. This release has largely been favorable reviews, presently achieving a highly favorable reception on Steam based on numerous user evaluations.

Development Approach

Via the title's dedicated platform description, a clear disclosure regarding "AI Generated Content" invites parallels: "During development, we could utilize algorithmic and intelligent technologies to facilitate material generation. In all cases, the resulting game reflects the artistic expression of our studio staff."

Earlier Debate

The Finals, a popular online combat game recognized for its responsive controls and dynamic battlefields, faced criticism for its use of AI even before its official launch. In its public testing phase, the project's audio lead mentioned in a podcast interview that the company had employed AI tools for producing vocal tracks. This revelation triggered swift negative reaction from voice actors and game developers, who claimed that synthetic speech were of notably lower quality compared to human performances and that such methods could displace performance opportunities.

Company Position

Reacting to feedback, Embark Studios stated that they had employed skilled voice actors to create initial voice lines for The Finals, but supplemented these with TTS technology to create extra content based on those professional deliveries. The company's explanation focused on the development speed gained from this method.

Current Situation

About Arc Raiders, the game's design director clarified that the release does not employ AI generation at all," though he did not provide details on the specific interpretation of the store notice. He did acknowledge, however, that the same vocal technology implemented in The Finals was also incorporated in Arc Raiders.

We employ a mix of recorded voice audio and content created through synthetic voice systems in our titles, based on the requirements," explained a development team member. In certain cases, recording real scenes where talent interacts — enabling actor relationships and conflict to define the final product — is something that adds depth to our digital universes that technology can't emulate. For different situations, particularly if it relates to real-time combat communications, text-to-speech enables us to have customized dialogue where we otherwise wouldn't e.g. due to production timelines."

Community Response

Initial response to the incorporation of generative tools in Arc Raiders has been relatively mixed, notably in the initial period. Some players have voiced significant concerns.

• Artificial intelligence dialogue is a flaw in an mostly outstanding experience," commented one gamer in a community thread.
• I dislike that they implemented it in The Finals and am sad to hear they employed it once more for this title," responded another.
• The result was immediately noticeable in the speech content for a specific character," noted a another gamer.

Nevertheless, some users have adopted a more open-minded stance.

• It doesn't bother me, they hired talent and implemented it effectively," stated one online participant.
• This demonstrates acceptable as it currently exists, I'm afraid," concluded another.

The continuing discussion regarding technology adoption in video game production seems likely to continue as companies juggle production speed with creative quality and moral concerns.