{"id":65637,"date":"2025-12-10T01:41:25","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T01:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/game-in-ai-debate-in-running-for-top-bafta-award\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T01:41:26","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T01:41:26","slug":"game-in-ai-debate-in-running-for-top-bafta-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/game-in-ai-debate-in-running-for-top-bafta-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Game in AI debate in running for top Bafta award"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Tom Richardson<\/span>BBC Newsbeat<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"EmbarkEmbark Studios<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Arc Raiders has been a smash hit, but its use of AI has sparked debate<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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A video game at the centre of a debate over artificial intelligence (AI) is in the running for the top prize at next year’s Bafta Game Awards.<\/p>\n

Arc Raiders, from Swedish developer Embark Studios, has been a smash-hit since its October launch, selling more than four million copies.<\/p>\n

But the multiplayer shooter has been criticised for using text-to-speech tools to create additional lines, based on dialogue previously recorded by the game’s actors.<\/p>\n

It is one of 10 titles longlisted for the prestigious best game award, with a shortlist to be announced in the run-up to April’s annual ceremony.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

How does Arc Raiders use AI?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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\"EmbarkEmbark Studios<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Arc Raiders has won praise for its gameplay, visuals and sound<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Arc Raiders is an extraction shooter game set on a futuristic Earth that has been overrun by hostile machines and the human race run underground.<\/p>\n

Teams of players compete to gather materials on the surface, avoiding each other and killer robots, with the aim of getting back to base in one piece.<\/p>\n

The game was generally well-received by critics and praised for its gameplay, level design and immersive audio.<\/p>\n

A disclosure on PC games store Steam, which said the game “may use <\/b>procedural and AI-based tools to assist with content creation” during development, sparked a debate among players.<\/p>\n

While the game contains traditional recorded performances, the actors involved also gave permission for their voices to be used as training data for text-to-speech models.<\/p>\n

These are used outside of scripted scenes, and Embark has said this allows them to add updates to the game without needing to repeatedly call performers into a studio.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"SandfallSandfall Interactive<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Role-playing game Clair Obscur is also nominated for Bafta’s big prize<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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The use of AI-based tools in game development is not new, but it has become a bigger topic since generative AI (GenAI) – the technology behind products such as ChatGPT – became more prominent.<\/p>\n

As in other industries, it has prompted fears of job losses, and accusations of stealing artists’ work without permission to train models.<\/p>\n

In the video game industry, which has seen record numbers of layoffs in recent years, those worries are heightened. <\/p>\n

Bafta’s longlist was published on the same day as six European video game workers’ unions issued a joint statement<\/a> highlighting concerns including “AI job displacement”.<\/p>\n

A year-long strike over AI protections for video game actors ended in July this year<\/a>, with fears over replicating performances without consent being the main sticking point. <\/p>\n

Players and reviewers complained that Arc Raiders’ generated voice lines were lower quality than those delivered by human actors, and also expressed worries over performers losing out on work.<\/p>\n

Embark Studios has insisted it has not used GenAI in Arc Raiders, and that it does not wish to eliminate humans from its development process.<\/p>\n

Its co-founder, Stefan Strandberg, told website GamesRadar+<\/a> AI techniques have allowed the studio to work more efficiently while keeping its core team size small.<\/p>\n

Other games in the longlist have also been criticised by fans for using AI in development.<\/p>\n

The Alters, which appears in the performance and narrative categories, was found to have used AI translation, while early versions of Clair Obscur contained generated textures.<\/p>\n

In both cases, developers said the resulting text and images were placeholders never intended to appear in the final releases. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"RawRaw Fury<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Adventure game Blue Prince was one of the best-reviewed games of 2025 <\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Bafta has 1,700 games industry members who are eligible to vote in its annual awards and decide what gets nominated.<\/p>\n

It does not currently have an official position on AI usage in game development, but Newsbeat understands it is in regular discussion with its members on the topic.<\/p>\n

Its technical achievement award, which Arc Raiders is up for, lists AI as one of the elements of engineering and programming that jurors can take into account.<\/p>\n

The awards do have strict eligibility rules around remakes and remasters of previously released games, and downloadable content, or DLC, which expands on an existing title.<\/p>\n

In a statement released with the longlist, Bafta Games committee chair Tara Saunders said the awards were “a fantastic opportunity to spotlight the creativity and craft shaping this year’s games”.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n