The story expansion "Songs of the Past" for the open-world RPG The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt from CD Projekt Red is being created with the use of generative artificial intelligence — at least in the Polish version of the add-on. This was told to Game File by CDPR localization producer Mikołaj Szwed: the studio turned to the generative software of the company Respeecher to modify the voice of the Polish voice actor for Geralt in the expansion. According to Szwed, "this was a special case," and it explains why AI is used here not to create new content from scratch, but to restore the sound familiar to players.

Reason: stroke and the actor's changed voice

Jacek Rozenek has been voicing Geralt in the Polish versions of The Witcher by CD Projekt Red since the very first installment of the franchise. In 2019, the artist suffered a stroke and for several months could not even speak. In 2021, Rozenek returned to work, but he was no longer the same: after a difficult recovery, his voice changed — it became lower and rougher. At CD Projekt Red, they feared that Polish players would find it jarring if Geralt sounded different from scene to scene: one line spoken by the "old" Rozenek, and the next by the "new" one.

How the Respeecher algorithm worked

With Rozenek's permission, CD Projekt Red decided to use AI from Respeecher to give the actor's new voice its old sound. The algorithm was trained on tens of thousands of lines that the artist recorded for the base game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Thus, in the Polish version of the add-on, Geralt's voice will be as close as possible to the one players have been accustomed to for years, rather than the current voice that changed after the illness. At the same time, according to the publication, Rozenek has not heard his AI double and, it seems, does not plan to.

"Morally justified and approved by the actor"

According to Szwed, the situation with Rozenek is one of those cases where the use of artificial intelligence is "morally justified, approved by the affected actor, and aimed at the good." Rozenek himself shared: "The main thing is that this voice is as close as possible to my voice 12 years ago. I trust the game's creators completely. Regarding voice dynamics, I can play this role. Of course, it's good that the voices will be similar." That is, the actor does not refuse to participate and retains his live performance, while the AI only aligns the tonal foundation.

Future: The Witcher 4 and release dates

CD Projekt Red emphasized that they are not going to use the algorithm to modify Rozenek's voice in the future: the lower and rougher voice, in the studio's opinion, will suit the aged Geralt in The Witcher 4 perfectly. The "Songs of the Past" expansion will be released in 2027 for PC (Steam, GOG, EGS, Battle.net), PS5, Xbox Series X and S, as well as Nintendo Switch 2. The release of The Witcher 4 is expected in 2028 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X and S.

Context: the Cyberpunk 2077 precedent

This is not the first experience of CD Projekt Red working with Respeecher: the studio has already collaborated with this company to recreate the voice of a late Polish dubbing star in Cyberpunk 2077. Thus, the case with "Songs of the Past" fits into a wider practice of using generative AI to preserve vocal images in conditions where the original performer cannot physically reproduce them in the same quality — while, as CDPR emphasizes, only with the explicit consent of the interested parties.