Although the narrator in question has passed away, Red Hook Studios, the developer of Darkest Dungeon, refuses to use generative artificial intelligence.

Darkest Dungeon is one of the best dungeon crawler games of all time, and a significant part of its appeal stems from the somber, deep voice of the mysterious ancestor commenting on every move we make. The man behind the voice, Wayne June, passed away last year. Upon hearing the news, one might ask: Who could possibly fill his shoes? Last week, Red Hook co-founder Chris Bourassa clarified on Reddit that it certainly won’t be AI.

“In one of his last emails to me, Wayne gave us permission to train an AI on his voice, something he’d staunchly opposed prior to the end. We’d never asked to do it. I think he was trying to put the game, team, and fans first and offer us a ‘way forward.’ I declined, and we donated to his family anyway. I would never erode his incredible, timeless performances by teaching a machine to sound like him. His voice and delivery were human, and I’m forever grateful that I got to write for him,” Bourassa said.

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Respondents welcomed this stance. One user wrote that it was refreshing to hear him and the Red Hook team pay tribute to Wayne’s memory this way. Another said, “Bravo, sir,” and a third declared that Red Hook (as always) had pulled off a massive coup. Another user was happy about the news since it will be impossible to train an AI to do this properly. The developers will have to find someone else. It’ll be different, but that’s okay.

June’s performances were so powerful that she made a deep impression on players despite the fact that the Darkest Dungeon games are the only ones in her gaming career (though she did appear in a Darkest Dungeon-themed commentary pack for DotA 2). While AI voice acting has found its place in games like The Finals and Arc Raiders, Embark’s CEO has acknowledged that real voice acting is superior to its artificial counterpart.

Voice actors in the gaming industry have openly discussed how AI is incapable of delivering a truly human performance. Even if the Red Hook team were willing to accept June’s offer, the idea that the resulting voice-over could be compared to their work is laughable.

Source: PCGamer