‘The Finals’ developer says AI allows for “new ways to work together” with actors

The developer of free-to-play first-person shooter The Finals has responded to the criticism from fans and actors over the use of artificial intelligence to create voices for its characters.

After a few voice actors noticed an affectation to the callouts from the commentators, a podcast episode featuring two of The Finals audio designers affirmed that these voices were the result of text-to-speech (TTS) software.

“Trying to imagine how an audio professional could possibly think this sounds good,” said an actor of a compilation of the commentators’ callouts.

Now, Embark Studios has supplied a statement to IGN justifying the inclusion of artificial intelligence at this point in The Finals‘ development.

“We use a combination of recorded voice audio and audio generated via TTS tools in our games, depending on the context,” said a spokesperson.

“Sometimes, recording real scenes where actors get together – allowing character chemistry and conflict to shape the outcome – is something that adds depth to our game worlds that technology can’t emulate.

“Other times, especially when it relates to contextual in-game action call-outs, TTS allows us to have tailored voice over where we otherwise wouldn’t, for example due to speed of implementation.”

In the open beta, those voices are the product of a “mix of professional voice actors and temporary voices from Embark employees” put through TTS software.

“Making games without actors isn’t an end goal for Embark and TTS technology has introduced new ways for us to work together.”

The Finals is in development for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Its open beta is active until November 5 and allows players to earn in-game exclusives to show off at launch.

In other gaming news, the Destiny 2 community has shared their concerns that the future of the game is slipping out of sight following news of delays and layoffs.