CD Projekt Red uses AI to preserve Geralt’s Polish voice in new Witcher 3 expansion

CD Projekt Red has used Respeecher’s generative-AI tools to modify Jacek Rozenek’s newly recorded Polish dialogue as Geralt of Rivia in “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past.” The work is intended to make the performance resemble Rozenek’s voice in the base game while retaining him as the character’s actor.

The treatment applies only to the Polish-language version. Rozenek recorded all of Geralt’s new lines for the expansion, while Doug Cockle returned to play Geralt in English without the same AI adjustment.

The decision followed a severe stroke Rozenek suffered in 2019, which temporarily left him unable to speak and changed the quality and tonality of his voice. He returned to voice acting in 2022 after extensive rehabilitation, including six or seven hours of daily vocal training, but recording a new quest for the game’s next-generation update proved exhausting.

His post-stroke voice was lower and gruffer than the earlier performance, creating a continuity problem because “Songs of the Past” takes place during the same era as “The Witcher 3.” New dialogue, including reactions and battle cries that can play in existing areas, would otherwise sit alongside recordings from the original game.

CD Projekt Red supplied Respeecher with Rozenek’s earlier “Witcher 3” recordings, about 10,000 lines, to create an algorithm based on his past Geralt performance. The resulting system reworks the new recordings toward the sound of his earlier voice rather than generating a replacement actor’s performance.

Rozenek approved the process. He said the aim was for the voice to be as close as possible to the one he had 12 years earlier, adding that he trusted the game’s creators.

Mikołaj Szwed, CD Projekt Red’s localization producer, described the case as a special circumstance driven by Rozenek’s health and consent. “I do think this is one of those ways where you can use AI ethically, with consent and also to do something good,” he said.

Rozenek has voiced Geralt in Polish since CD Projekt Red hired him for the original “Witcher” game in 2007, including the “Hearts of Stone” and “Blood and Wine” expansions. The studio previously used Respeecher for new Polish dialogue for Viktor Vektor in “Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty,” after actor Miłogost Reczek died, with permission from Reczek’s family.

“Songs of the Past” is planned for release on PlayStation 5 in 2027 and is not planned for PlayStation 4 or Xbox One.