In the production of Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty, artificial intelligence was used to replace a voice actor who had passed away

According to Bloomberg, CD Projekt has employed cutting-edge technology to extend the dialogues of the character Milogość Rechek, renowned for his voice acting in Cyberpunk 2077.

Milogość Rechek lent his voice to the character Viktor Vector in the Polish version of Cyberpunk 2077, but he passed away in 2021. To incorporate his character into the "Phantom Liberty" expansion, CD Projekt explored various options. One approach involved finding a new actor to re-record Rechek's lines to maintain a consistent voice. However, the company decided against this route, citing the excellence of Rechek's performance.

Instead, CD Projekt located a new actor to record new dialogues and used the Respeecher software to clone Rechek's voice. This allowed them to modify the voice to retain the sound of Rechek in the previously recorded dialogues.

CD Projekt claims to have obtained permission from Rechek's family before embarking on this project. The company's Localization Director emphasized that Rechek's sons "fully supported this idea."

The use of artificial intelligence in the entertainment industry has sparked discussions. Some members of the acting community express concerns about the potential replacement of actors through such technologies. Last month, the SAG-AFTRA union, representing American actors, voted for a possible strike in the video game industry due to unsatisfactory conditions, including protection from the exploitation of artificial intelligence.