CD Projekt Red is using artificial intelligence to modify the Polish voice of Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past, allowing longtime actor Jacek Rozenek to reprise the role while making his new recordings sound closer to his original performance.
The studio partnered with Ukrainian voice-technology company Respeecher to process Rozenek’s new dialogue. This is not a case of replacing the actor with an AI-generated voice: Rozenek recorded the new lines himself, and the AI technology was subsequently used to adjust the sound of his performance. The decision follows a significant change in Rozenek’s voice after he suffered a stroke in 2019. The stroke left him unable to speak for months. Although he eventually returned to acting, his voice had changed, becoming lower and rougher. He previously returned to record additional dialogue for The Witcher 3’s next-generation update, released in 2022, but described that recording experience as exhausting.
When CD Projekt Red approached him about returning for Songs of the Past, the studio wanted to preserve the continuity of Geralt’s established Polish voice. The expansion takes place during the same general period as the original game, and its new dialogue includes reactions, battle cries, and one-liners that can play in areas already present in The Witcher 3. Players could therefore hear new recordings alongside thousands of lines Rozenek originally recorded in 2014. According to localization producer Mikołaj Szwed, CD Projekt Red supplied Respeecher with Rozenek’s earlier The Witcher 3 recordings to help the company match the sound of his younger voice. Rozenek originally recorded approximately 10,000 lines for the base game. Respeecher’s synthetic speech artist Dmytro Vasylets described the new work as technically demanding, particularly when attempting to preserve the actor’s emotional range, including shouts, groans, anger, fear, and laughter.
Rozenek approved the approach and expressed confidence in CD Projekt Red’s handling of his performance. Szwed described the project as a “special case,” while acknowledging broader concerns about AI and voice actors. He also stated that CD Projekt Red’s contracts require consent for AI-related voice work. This is not the studio’s first collaboration with Respeecher. The company previously helped recreate the Polish voice of Viktor Vektor in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty after the original actor, Miłogost Reczek, died. That project proceeded with the family’s approval. Rozenek’s situation is different: he remains actively involved and performs the new dialogue himself.
The AI adjustments apply to the Polish version of the expansion. CD Projekt Red does not plan to apply the same treatment to English-language Geralt actor Doug Cockle or to hypothetical future appearances of Rozenek’s Geralt in stories set later in the timeline. The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past is scheduled for 2027. The project illustrates one potential use of AI in game development: modifying an actor’s own new performance to preserve continuity, rather than replacing the performer. It also highlights the importance of consent and actor involvement as the industry continues to debate synthetic voice technology.
