CD Projekt Red has revealed that it used - and is using - generative AI technology to treat and alter the voice of the Polish actor who portrayed Geralt of Rivia in upcoming Witcher 3 expansion Songs of the Past.

The actor, Jacek Rozenek, has portrayed Geralt of Rivia in all the major Witcher games, meaning his voice has become as synonymous with the role in Poland as Doug Cockle's has for people playing in English. But Rozenek suffered a severe stroke in 2019 that left him temporarily unable to speak, and when he was able to talk and perform again, the tonality and quality of his voice had changed.

It's for these reasons that CD Projekt Red - with Rozenek's consent - employed the help of a company called Respeecher to alter the lines he recorded for The Witcher 3's Songs of the Past expansion using generative-AI technology. As confirmed to Game File, an AI trained on Rozenek's previous Witcher work is retreating his recordings to make them sound more like the Geralt you hear elsewhere in The Witcher 3.

"The point is that this voice should be as close as possible to my voice from 12 years ago," Jacek Rozenek explained. "I have great trust ... for the creators of this game."

Game File heard both treated and untreated recordings of Rozenek's Songs of the Past work, and reported a "significant" difference between them. Rozenek's untreated voice was apparently "deep and gravelly" and "noticeably rougher than his recordings for the original game".

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