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According to recent disclosures from the studio behind the title, Arc Raiders seems to utilize generative systems for producing some dialogue. This revelation is strikingly similar to the situation that arose with the studio's previous success, The Finals.

Game Overview

Launched on October 30th for PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X, Arc Raiders is positioned as a easier on-ramp to the loot-and-extract genre. Compared to established behemoths like Escape from Tarkov, it seeks to offer a welcoming gameplay. The game has generally earned positive feedback, currently holding a "very positive" rating on the popular platform based on thousands of gamer feedback.

AI Disclosure

On the product's store listing, a clear disclosure regarding "AI Generated Content" draws comparisons: Throughout creation, we might apply procedural and AI-based technologies to assist with asset production. In every instance, the resulting game showcases the original ideas of our studio staff."

Past Issue

The Finals, a successful online combat game recognized for its smooth gunplay and demolition-heavy maps, received negative feedback for its use of AI even before its official launch. Throughout its October 2023 open beta, the game's audio designer revealed in a audio program that the development team had employed AI tools for creating voice content. This revelation prompted immediate criticism from voice actors and game developers, who argued that computer-created dialogue were of inferior standard compared to human performances and that such approaches could replace performance opportunities.

Company Position

In response, the company explained that they had hired professional voice actors to produce primary voice lines for The Finals, but expanded these with text-to-speech tools to produce supplementary lines inspired by those professional deliveries. The developer's reasoning highlighted the production efficiency gained from this technique.

Present Circumstances

Regarding Arc Raiders, the project's design head clarified that the release "in no way uses artificial intelligence creation at all," though he avoided specifics on the exact nature of the Steam disclosure. He did confirm, however, that the same vocal technology used for The Finals was also incorporated in Arc Raiders.

Our approach involves combination of professional actor recordings and audio generated via synthetic voice systems in our titles, depending on the context," commented a studio representative. "Sometimes, capturing live performances where performers collaborate — allowing character chemistry and tension to influence the result — is something that adds depth to our digital universes that technology can't emulate. For different situations, notably when it concerns real-time combat communications, text-to-speech enables us to have customized dialogue where we otherwise wouldn't such as due to production timelines."

Community Response

Early feedback to the implementation of automated systems in Arc Raiders has been fairly varied, especially during the initial period. Some players have shown clear disapproval.

• Artificial intelligence dialogue is a stain on an mostly outstanding title," wrote one player in a community thread.
• I dislike that they used it in The Finals and am sad to hear they repeated it for this game," commented another.
• The effect was quickly detectable in the dialogue delivery for one protagonist," observed a different user.

Nevertheless, some users have adopted a more accepting position.

• I don't care, they hired talent and applied it appropriately," wrote one online participant.
• This represents the most responsible as it gets these days, I'm afraid," added another.

The persistent debate regarding technology adoption in interactive entertainment looks prepared to persist as studios balance creative efficiency with creative quality and responsible practices.