A video game at the center of an artificial intelligence (AI) debate is vying for the top honor at next year’s Bafta Game Awards.
Arc Raiders, developed by Sweden’s Embark Studios, has enjoyed considerable success since its October debut, with over four million copies sold.
However, the multiplayer shooter has faced scrutiny for its use of text-to-speech tools to generate supplementary dialogue, based on pre-existing recordings by the game’s voice actors.
It is among 10 titles longlisted for the prestigious best game award, with a shortlist to be revealed ahead of the annual ceremony in April.
Other contenders for the top prize include high-profile releases like Ghost of Yōtei and Death Stranding 2, as well as indie favorites Hollow Knight: Silksong and Hades II, and the indie adventure Blue Prince.
The role-playing game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, widely tipped to dominate this week’s Game Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, has also secured a place on the longlist.
Bafta’s video game awards are often regarded as a less commercially driven alternative to the US-based show, with categories dedicated to British studios and major awards frequently going to smaller developers.
Arc Raiders is an extraction shooter set on a futuristic Earth overrun by hostile machines, forcing humanity to seek refuge underground.
Player teams compete to gather resources on the surface, navigating encounters with rival teams and deadly robots, with the goal of returning safely to base.
The game has generally been well-received by critics, who have praised its gameplay, level design, and immersive audio.
A disclosure on the PC gaming platform Steam indicating that the game “may use procedural and AI-based tools to assist with content creation” during development sparked debate among players.
While the game features conventionally recorded performances, the involved voice actors granted permission for their voices to be used as training data for text-to-speech models.
These models are employed outside of scripted scenes, allowing Embark to introduce game updates without repeatedly recalling performers to the studio, according to the developer.
The utilization of AI-based tools in game development is not a recent phenomenon, but it has gained increased prominence with the rise of generative AI (GenAI) – the technology underpinning products such as ChatGPT.
As in other sectors, this has raised concerns about job displacement and accusations of unauthorized appropriation of artists’ work to train AI models.
In the video game industry, which has experienced record numbers of layoffs in recent years, these concerns are particularly acute.
Bafta’s longlist was published on the same day that six European video game worker unions released a joint statement highlighting issues including “AI job displacement.”
A year-long strike centered on AI protections for video game voice actors concluded in July of this year, with concerns regarding the replication of performances without consent as the primary point of contention.
Players and reviewers have noted that Arc Raiders’ generated voice lines are of lower quality than those delivered by human actors, and have also expressed concerns about potential job losses for performers.
Embark Studios has asserted that it has not employed GenAI in Arc Raiders, and that it is not seeking to eliminate human involvement from its development process.
Its co-founder, Stefan Strandberg, told GamesRadar+ that AI techniques have enabled the studio to enhance efficiency while maintaining a small core team.
Other games on the longlist have also drawn criticism from fans for their use of AI in development.
The Alters, which is nominated in the performance and narrative categories, was found to have used AI translation, while early versions of Clair Obscur contained AI-generated textures.
In both instances, the developers clarified that the AI-generated text and images were placeholders never intended for use in the final releases.
Bafta has a membership of 1,700 games industry professionals who are eligible to vote in its annual awards and determine the nominations.
While Bafta does not currently have an official stance on AI usage in game development, Newsbeat understands that it is engaged in ongoing discussions with its members on the matter.
Its technical achievement award, for which Arc Raiders is nominated, lists AI as one of the engineering and programming elements that jurors may consider.
The awards have stringent eligibility criteria regarding remakes, remasters, and downloadable content (DLC).
In a statement accompanying the longlist, Bafta Games committee chair Tara Saunders stated that the awards are “a fantastic opportunity to spotlight the creativity and craft shaping this year’s games.”
“This list showcases a wide range of games to dive into… honours the teams behind these standout titles, and shines a light on the incredible skill across our whole industry,” she added.
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