Game at centre of AI debate in running for top Bafta award

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

The game was generally well-received by critics and praised for its gameplay, level design and immersive audio.

A disclosure on PC games store Steam said the game "may use procedural and AI-based tools to assist with content creation" during development sparked a debate among players.

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.

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.

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.

As in other industries, it has prompted fears of job losses, and accusations of stealing artists' work without permission to train models.

In the video game industry, which has seen record numbers of layoffs in recent years, those worries are heightened.

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.

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

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.

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

Other games in the longlist have also been criticised by fans for using AI in development.

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.

In both cases, developers said the resulting text and images were placeholders never intended to appear in the final releases.

Bafta has 1,700 games industry members who are eligible to vote in its annual awards and decide what gets nominated.

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.

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.

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.

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".

"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.

• The official Bafta Games 2026 longlist can be found here.