Thursday, October 30th 2025
Embark Addresses Gen-AI Use: Arc Raiders "In No Way Uses Generative AI" Except Where It Apparently Does
Arc Raiders is slated to launch on October 30, and, with the Steam Store page already up, along with the requisite declaration of the use of generative AI in the new shooter, questions have been floating around about the full extent of the use of AI in Arc Raiders. Presumably to get out ahead of the criticism that's inevitably going to be generated—especially after Embark bragged about being able to use AI to generate a 3D model of a gun from as little as a YouTube video—Arc Raiders's design director, Virgil Watkins, explained to PCGamesN in a recent interview that Arc Raiders "in no way uses generative AI."
Curiously, Watkins goes on to clarify that the game does make use of machine learning—a term that has become synonymous with AI in recent years—for the locomotion of some of the more complicated drones. However, the game still bears Steam's obligatory warning about generated content, which, he explains, is there because of the same AI voice model system Embark used in The Finals. According to Watkins, voice actors were hired in order to train the AI model, which offers more versatile ping functionality "capable of saying every single item name, every single location name, and compass directions." That AI disclosure on the Steam Store page may also relate to generative AI being used in the game's development as a tool to speed up development and iteration—a use case that was confirmed to have been used in at least the early development of Arc Raiders, as per another interview with The Game Business on YouTube.
Sources:
PCGamesN, The Game Business on YouTube
Curiously, Watkins goes on to clarify that the game does make use of machine learning—a term that has become synonymous with AI in recent years—for the locomotion of some of the more complicated drones. However, the game still bears Steam's obligatory warning about generated content, which, he explains, is there because of the same AI voice model system Embark used in The Finals. According to Watkins, voice actors were hired in order to train the AI model, which offers more versatile ping functionality "capable of saying every single item name, every single location name, and compass directions." That AI disclosure on the Steam Store page may also relate to generative AI being used in the game's development as a tool to speed up development and iteration—a use case that was confirmed to have been used in at least the early development of Arc Raiders, as per another interview with The Game Business on YouTube.
6 Comments on Embark Addresses Gen-AI Use: Arc Raiders "In No Way Uses Generative AI" Except Where It Apparently Does
In contrast, Hades 2 has fantastic voice acting that's world building. The nuance in voice inflection and personality to match the character, enables the emotions and humour to be delivered throughout the story. I don't know how close machine learning or AI generated voices are to that AAA quality of voice acting.
My point is this: they need legal and contractual protections in place and ways to verify and enforce them and they need them yesterday. As it stands, they're pretty much screwed. And let's not forget some of the most memorable voices in the world belong to people who already passed away, like James Earl Jones and if I understand the California Celebrities Rights Act correctly those voices are already public domain, meaning you don't really need living people to train an AI.