Will de Renzy-Martin, the actor portraying lead character Coen in the English version of The Blood of Dawnwalker, has spoken about the fundamental differences between human performance and AI-generated voice lines. He argues that AI, while capable of mimicking vocal qualities, fails to capture the essence of an actor's contribution.
"I think the least interesting thing about what I do is the way my voice sounds," de Renzy-Martin stated in a recent TikTok teaser for the My Perfect Console Podcast. "That is really all that generative AI is able to replicate. It's not replicating my personality and the things that I do when I'm in the room, and the choices that I make, which is all the reasons that a director or a producer would want to work with me."
De Renzy-Martin recalled a past observation that actors, in the grand scheme of things, are relatively inexpensive. He posited that if an AI can produce the correct sounds, the need for a human to guide that AI and elicit the desired performance would create a far more costly role than that of an actor.
The Blood of Dawnwalker project previously faced scrutiny when developer Rebel Wolves disclosed its use of text-to-speech AI tools for planning cinematics, before engaging actors for the roles. Game director Konrad Tomazkiewicz has been open about potential AI applications in game development, primarily for streamlining laborious tasks like bug fixing, asserting that no elements in The Blood of Dawnwalker were ultimately created by AI.
Other studios have explored AI more extensively. Embark Studios, known for The Finals and Arc Raiders, controversially employed AI for voice line generation in both titles. Companies like Elevenlabs have built businesses around licensing actor voices for AI-driven content generation, with actor Matthew McConaughey notably investing in the company. McConaughey is set to star in the upcoming sci-fi RPG Exodus, though his voice lines for the game are not AI-generated.
Will de Renzy-Martin has had a notable year in gaming, with appearances in The Sinking City 2, 007 First Light, and Star Wars: Galactic Racer. His role as Coen in The Blood of Dawnwalker, however, is poised to be his most recognized performance. His performance as Coen, described as calm and velvety, contributes significantly to the character's appeal throughout the game.
In a review for Eurogamer, The Blood of Dawnwalker received four stars, with praise for its familiar dark fantasy setting blended with bold ideas, despite originating from a studio composed of former CD Projekt Red alumni.