CD Projekt Red uses generative AI to recreate Geralt's Polish voice in The Witcher 3
CD Projekt Red is utilizing AI voice generation to preserve the continuity of Geralt’s Polish voice in the upcoming Songs of the Past expansion, bridging a gap created by a life-altering health crisis. The decision to employ this technology stems from the health of Jacek Rozenek, the long-time Polish voice actor for the monster hunter, who suffered a stroke in 2019. While Rozenek has returned to the booth, the stroke left his voice noticeably lower and gruffer than the recordings he produced for the original game over a decade ago.
The Technical Challenge
This vocal shift presented a significant hurdle for the development of Songs of the Past, as the expansion is set during the same period as the main story of The Witcher 3. Because the new content includes not only quest dialogue but also battle cries, reactions, and one-liners that trigger in existing areas of the map, players would likely hear a 2026 version of Rozenek speaking immediately after a 2014 recording. To prevent a jarring experience where Geralt sounds like two different men in a single scene, CD Projekt Red partnered with the AI company Respeecher to align the new performances with the original ones.
The process is not a replacement of the actor, but rather a digital touch-up. Rozenek continues to perform every new line himself, ensuring the acting and emotional dynamics remain human. Respeecher then uses an algorithm trained on Rozenek's previous work as Geralt to reshape the sound of the new recordings. According to Dmytro Vasylets, a synthetic speech artist at Respeecher, this was a complex task that required dozens of hours of training to handle the nuances of emotional range, including shouts, groans, and laughter.
This technical intervention follows a grueling recovery period for Rozenek, who spent months unable to speak after his stroke and eventually trained his voice for six to seven hours a day to return to acting. The physical toll of the work remains evident; Rozenek noted that recording a small quest for the 2022 next-gen update of The Witcher 3 left him exhausted. Despite these challenges, Rozenek gave his full blessing for the use of AI, stating that his primary goal was for the voice to be as close as possible to his performance from 12 years ago.
An Ethical Precedent
CD Projekt Red is framing this as a specific, ethical application of generative AI. Localisation producer Mikolaj Szwed emphasized that the studio only pursued this route due to Rozenek's health issues and the necessity of vocal consistency. This is not the first time the developer has used Respeecher for similar reasons; the studio previously used the technology to recreate the voice of the late Milogost Reczek for the character Viktor Vektor in the Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty expansion, following the actor's death in 2021 and with the consent of his family.
The studio has been clear that this is a one-off situation rather than a new production template. The AI treatment is exclusive to the Polish language version and will not be applied to Doug Cockle, who voices Geralt in English. Furthermore, CD Projekt Red indicated that if Rozenek voices an older version of Geralt in future titles, the AI will not be used, as the natural aging and changes in his voice would suit the character's progression.
These developments arrive amid a broader industry conflict regarding the use of digital replicas. While SAG-AFTRA members have recently ratified contracts to prevent the use of digital replicas for dubbing without consent, the Rozenek case stands as a rare instance where the actor, the developer, and the AI provider are in public agreement. The result will be heard when Songs of the Past launches in 2027 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S, following the September 29, 2026, release of The Witcher 3 Remastered.
