Ubisoft's Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is coming out next week after 14 years since the last installment but some fans of the franchise seem to be not as excited anymore.
One of the minor NPCs in the game, Kalux the tree spirit, has been spotted to be entirely voiced by a text-to-speech AI program, IGN reported.
The AI voiceover is easily noticeable since the same free TTS program used by videogame streamers on Twitch. No name was also credited for the voice actor of Kalux.
Ubisoft: AI-Voiced Character Will Not be Fixed Immediately
Ubisoft confirmed that a TTS program was used to voice the tree spirit but only as part of the "placeholder assets" used in the initial development of the game.
This is a common practice in the gaming industry during the early phase of game production as developers record their voices or use programs as placeholders before a professional voice actor is hired to do the finalized version.
The practice can even be seen in the final version of Bethesda's Elder Scrolls franchise, particularly Morrowind and Oblivion. Wrong recordings sometimes pop up when talking with some minor NPCs.
According to the game developer, correct voiceovers "were not properly implemented" prior to the game's early release.
The fix is also expected to not arrive when Prince of Persia drops on Jan. 18, despite the big day-one patch.
Kalux is expected to have a proper voice in the following patches in late January or early February. Ubisoft did not name the voice actor originally cast for Kalux.
AI Concerns Become More Common in the Gaming Industry
The topic of AI in the video game industry has become a hot topic over the past week, making the Ubisoft incident draw more criticism and attention online.
Just this week, Valve retracted its statement on AI use on its Steam platform and finally allowed developers to add generative assets to their games.
Square Enix, publisher of the Final Fantasy franchise, also announced that it will jump into the AI train for its game development and marketing campaigns.
Even Cyberpunk 2077 was also criticized for using AI to revive one of its characters' voice actors back from the dead. The decision was made with the consent of the deceased performer's family.
With the latest deal between labor union SAG-AFTRA and Replica Studio to allow licensing of voice actor likeness for AI use in video games, it is easy to see why many are worried that Ubisoft is doing the same.
It remains uncertain if Ubisoft will fully commit to AI use in the future with its other titles as its fellow mainstream game publishers have done.
