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Hellblade developer Ninja Theory confirms it won’t replace voice actors with AI

By George Yang Published September 23, 2022

Ninja Theory, the developer behind the Hellblade series, denies that it will replace human voice actors with AI.

In a response to a Twitter user asking if the studio would do such a thing, Ninja Theory stated: “No. For clarity, we use this AI tech for placeholder content only to help us understand things like timing and placement in early phases of development. We then collaborate with real actors whose performances are at the heart of bringing our stories to life.”

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No. For clarity, we use this AI tech for placeholder content only to help us understand things like timing and placement in early phases of development. We then collaborate with real actors whose performances are at the heart of bringing our stories to life. https://t.co/Nz9F1NXOGD

— Ninja Theory (@NinjaTheory) September 23, 2022

This clarification comes after a report about the use of AI in video games and a company called Altered AI, which aims to provide game developers tools to create professional voice performances.

One of Altered AI’s clients is Ninja Theory, and the report called out the irony that Senua actress Melina Juergens got the role even though she was the studio’s video editor because they didn’t have technology like this during the prototype stage. The report also mentions that Curve Games has used AI voice tech for The Ascent.

AI has always been in video games, such as including them as opponents in combat. Big companies like Sony have been investing more in AI and developing AI Agents that can play alongside human players. Ninja Theory is working on several games right now, including Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II and Project: Mara. The former has been confirmed to release on Xbox Series X|S and PC, while the latter only has a teaser trailer so far. Neither project has a solid release date yet.

George Yang is a freelance games writer for Digital Trends. He has written for places such as IGN, GameSpot, The Washington…

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