Polish studio CD Projekt Red used AI technology from Ukrainian company Respeecher to preserve the original sound of Geralt of Rivia in the new expansion “Songs of the Past” for the game “The Witcher 3.” This allowed Polish actor Jacek Rozenek, whose voice changed after suffering a stroke, to return to the role without dissonance between old and new lines.
Polish studio CD Projekt Red used AI technology from Ukrainian company Respeecher to preserve the original sound of Geralt of Rivia in the new expansion “Songs of the Past” for the game “The Witcher 3.” This allowed Polish actor Jacek Rozenek, whose voice changed after suffering a stroke, to return to the role without dissonance between old and new lines.
As Polygon reports, citing an interview with Game File , Jacek Rozenek has been voicing the main character of the Witcher series in Polish since the release of the first game in 2007. In 2019, the actor suffered a stroke and was unable to speak for several months. Despite extensive rehabilitation and daily hours of training, his voice has irreversibly changed - it has become lower and more hoarse.
CD Projekt Red notes that such a voice could be suitable for an older Geralt in the upcoming The Witcher 4, but not for The Elder Song. This expansion will be released in 2027, but its events take place in the same era as the main game The Witcher 3. New dialogues, reactions and battle cries will be integrated directly into the base campaign, so the newly recorded phrases will sound alongside the old ones.
"We invited Jacek to our studios to listen to how his voice sounds now. It was important for us to see how much he has changed - both over time and due to his health," explained CD Projekt localization producer Mikolaj Shwed.
To solve this problem, the studio, with the actor's consent, turned to Ukrainian startup Respeecher, which specializes in voice synthesis and cloning using AI. The company's specialists will analyze 10,000 archival lines recorded for the main game in 2014. In this case, Rozenek will independently read all the new dialogues, and Respeecher's algorithms will only adapt the timbre to its original sound, preserving the actor's intonation.
The actor himself supported the use of technology. “I can play this role. Of course, it’s very good that this voice will be brought into line,” said Jacek Rozenek. CDPR emphasizes that this is an example of the ethical use of AI in game development, when technology helps the artist, not replaces him.
Recall that the Ukrainian startup Respeecher already collaborated with CD Projekt Red in 2023. Then the team helped recreate the voice of the late Polish actor Miłogóst Reczek for the role of the rapper Viktor Vector in the Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty expansion, having previously received permission from the artist's family.
