Indie dev Level-headed Questworks accused of adjusting sport’s solid with AI voices

Image by courtesy of Tranquil Gameworks/Wandering Wizard.

Citadel of Secrets creator Tranquil Questworks has faced allegations of employing human voice actors, only to terminate their contracts and replace them with performances generated by AI. Voice actor Mika Nerida asserted that the studio “opted to utilize AI-generated voices” for its initial game, and “dismissed all voice actors they had, denying any new talent entry.”

A post from fellow voice actor Ian Mitchell reveals he was also prohibited from Citadel’s Steam community by a Tranquil Questworks representative for “personal animosity and enforcing their agenda.” The now-removed post on the game’s forums claimed the studio “employed AI to generate voices that sounded like various individuals, instead of having the actors portray the characters. It feels less genuine, as a machine’s providing the voices.”

Nerida informed Game Developer she was initially part of the cast with the understanding that she would replace the game’s temporary AI voice tracks. She later claimed Tranquil “backtracked” and suggested that AI would still be utilized in some manner. Both she and Mitchell rejected this, leading to them and the other human actors being “removed” from the project.

According to Mitchell, the actors were dismissed prior to the voice recording sessions being scheduled. He stated that the generated voices are much more than a basic “voice filter,” as they “transform your voice entirely. This was done to cut costs on hiring different voice actors, even though the voice actors who auditioned possessed a WIDE range of vocal abilities.”

“We asked to simply voice act, instead of letting technology handle it,” he continued. He also revealed that one member of Tranquil’s team had accepted the actors’ proposed conditions but was dismissed hours later while working on the documentation. Mitchell then mentioned that the cast was subsequently let go, with Tranquil informing the actors that it was “returning to AI voice generators and relying on inexpensive Fiverr VAs to take our place.”

Citadel of Secrets’ AI-generated content disclaimer on Steam notes that the game has “occasionally employed AI-generated voice acting.” According to Nerida, this acknowledgment was present on the page before actors were contracted.

In a follow-up post, Nerida expressed that Tranquil Questworks “has no content of mine that would grant them the right to commandeer, take, or sample me.” She also clarified her thoughts on the technology: “Forget AI. It’s nonsense. Create authentically.”

Game Developer has reached out to Tranquil Gameworks and creator Wandering Wizard for a statement and will provide an update when a response is received.

Update: This story has been altered to state that Mitchell was another voice actor for Citadel of Secrets, not its voice director, and that it was a member of Tranquil Questworks who’d agreed to the actors’ terms.

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