Cyberpunk 2077 Used AI To Recreate the Voice of a Dead Actor for the Video Game’s Expansion

Players who dive into the video game Cyberpunk 2077’s recently released Phantom Liberty expansion may cross paths with a character whose real-world voice actor died before recording his lines, and has been replaced with an AI perfectly mimicking his voice.

Polish video game developer CD Projekt Red initially released the action role-playing video game Cyberpunk 2077 in 2020, and it featured the the voice actor Milogost Reczek performing the dialogue of back alley doctor Viktor Vektor in the Polish-language version.

Reczek died in December 2021, before recording any lines for the planned downloadable expansion to the game. So when CD Projekt Red went into production, instead of replacing him, they used AI to recreate him.

"For the Polish version, where one of the main actors passed away between the production of the main game and the expansion, we tried to find a way to honor him and actually not replace him in the base game, leaving him as an active part of the cast," CD Projekt Red project manager Marta Cannila said in an interview with an Italian gaming YouTube channel. "AIs were instrumental in this. They managed to do so using a pool of voice samples but also with the consent and participation of his family."

The company confirmed that it had used AI to simulate Reczek’s voice, with his family’s blessing, in a statement to Bloomberg. CD Projekt Red executive Mikołaj Szwed added that the company had considered recasting the role of Vektor, but they "didn’t like this approach," and said Reczek’s performance was "stellar."

"This way we could keep his performance in the game and pay tribute to his wonderful performance as Viktor Vektor," he added. 

In September, video game actors voted to authorize a strike if negotiations on a new labor contract failed, in part over concerns about AI taking work from actors. The voice actors and motion capture artists are part of the SAG-AFTRA union, which has engaged in a months-long strike that has shuttered numerous television and movie productions.