Embark Studios is reportedly making another major change to ARC Raiders’ voice acting, with a new report claiming that the developer has re-recorded all of the game’s quest dialogue using real voice actors.
The extraction shooter faced criticism after launching with a mixture of human performances and AI-powered text-to-speech (TTS) dialogue. Embark previously confirmed that it had begun replacing some of those synthetic lines with professionally recorded performances. Now, the studio is reportedly taking that effort even further.
In Brief:
- Embark Studios has already confirmed replacing some of ARC Raiders’ AI-generated dialogue with recordings from professional voice actors.
- A new report claims all quest lines have been re-recorded, although the full extent of the changes remains unverified.
- Embark has acknowledged the quality difference between AI-generated speech and actual human performances.
- The studio still sees text-to-speech as a useful development tool and has previously defended its use for the game’s ping system.
Embark Reportedly Re-Records ARC Raiders Quest Dialogue With Real Actors
According to Embark, the studio has re-recorded all of ARC Raiders’ quest lines with real voice actors.
The reported change follows months of criticism surrounding the game’s use of AI-generated voices, particularly in conversations with NPCs.
When ARC Raiders originally launched in October 2025, Embark used a hybrid approach to voice acting. Some dialogue was recorded directly by professional performers, while other lines were generated through a text-to-speech system using licensed actor voices.
The technology allowed the developers to produce additional dialogue without scheduling new recording sessions every time they introduced an item, location, or quest.
However, players criticized the delivery of certain AI-generated lines, arguing that characters sometimes sounded flat or lacked emotion.
Embark eventually began replacing parts of that dialogue with human recordings.
In a March 2026 interview, Embark CEO Patrick Söderlund confirmed the change.
“We re-recorded some of the lines post-launch and made them with real voices,” Söderlund explained.
He also acknowledged that professional voice actors delivered better results than the technology.
“A real professional actor is better than AI; that’s just how it is.”
The latest report suggests that Embark has continued this work, potentially extending the replacements across the game’s quest dialogue.
Embark Says It Isn’t Trying to Replace Voice Actors With AI
Embark has repeatedly pushed back against concerns that its text-to-speech technology is intended to replace professional performers.
The latest social media report attributes the following statement to Embark co-founder and chief creative officer, Stefan Strandberg:
“We are not in the industry of replacing actors. Actually, I think quite the opposite.”
Although the exact wording of this newer statement has not been independently verified, Strandberg expressed a similar position in an earlier GamesRadar+ interview.
He explained that bringing real actors into recording sessions helps develop the game’s world and characters, adding that there was no goal of replacing actors entirely.
Söderlund has also confirmed that Embark compensates performers for recording sessions and obtains paid approval when licensing their voices for selected text-to-speech applications.
For Embark, the technology has primarily been about speeding up production and allowing a relatively small development team to create more content.
Still, the studio’s decision to re-record dialogue shows that efficiency alone cannot deliver everything players expect from voice acting.
ARC Raiders Is Putting More Focus on Human Performances
The move toward human performances extends beyond dialogue.
In October 2026, Embark announced improvements to Celeste, one of the central characters in ARC Raiders.
The studio revealed that Celeste’s appearance would more closely resemble her real-life performer, Diana Gardner, who has voiced the character since the beginning.
Embark also introduced more detailed performance capture to better communicate facial expressions and emotion.
Strandberg explained that the previous version of Celeste struggled to reflect the full depth of Gardner’s performance, something the team wanted to improve.
The studio has also expressed plans to bring additional characters closer to their real-world performers in future updates.
These improvements are part of Embark’s broader effort to make ARC Raiders’ characters feel more believable and emotionally engaging.
Is ARC Raiders Completely Removing AI Voices?
For now, there is no verified announcement that Embark is removing every AI-generated voice line from ARC Raiders.
Even with the reported quest dialogue replacements, the game’s text-to-speech technology has served other functions, particularly the ping system.
That system allows Raiders to communicate information about items, enemies, locations, and directions without needing to record every possible callout individually.
Embark has previously described AI as a production tool that helps developers experiment with dialogue before bringing actors into the recording booth.
So, while more human voice acting appears to be the direction Embark is taking, a complete removal of text-to-speech has not been confirmed.
And for players who criticized the original AI dialogue, the continued investment in professional performances is an encouraging development. It also gives Embark an opportunity to make ARC Raiders’ characters and stories feel more natural as the game continues to evolve.
