CD Projekt Red used AI to alter Rozenek’s Geralt voice in Witcher 3 expansion

CD Projekt Red confirmed on Nov. 11, 2026 that it used artificial intelligence to modify Polish actor Jacek Rozenek’s voice for Geralt in The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past expansion.

The disclosure came through interviews with Game File, a games newsletter run by Stephen Totilo, which published its report on Nov. 11, 2026. CDPR said it wanted Rozenek to return for Songs of the Past but determined his current voice differed from recordings made about 12 years earlier.

Rozenek suffered a stroke in 2019 that left him temporarily unable to speak, after which his voice became lower and gruffer. He trained his voice for six to seven hours daily during recovery, and by 2021 he recorded a few lines for a quest in the 2022 next-gen update, which left him exhausted. The tonality and quality of his voice changed enough that CDPR considered it a mismatch for new lines recorded beside older ones.

CDPR engaged Ukrainian AI company Respeecher to adjust Rozenek’s new voice lines to match his 2014 performance, with the actor’s consent. Respeecher had worked with CDPR on Cyberpunk 2077. The studio sought Rozenek’s blessing before proceeding and dismissed the idea of casting a soundalike because it wanted Rozenek’s voice specifically. Respeecher trained its model on roughly 10,000 voice lines Rozenek recorded for The Witcher 3 base game in 2014, then reshaped his new takes to sound like Geralt from 2015.

Respeecher built the model from the original recordings so new battle cries, one-liners and reactions would not create a jarring contrast when played in familiar parts of the map. Rozenek performs every new line himself, and Respeecher applies AI processing afterward; the work took dozens of hours of model training and detail refinement.

Dmytro Vasylets, a Respeecher synthetic speech artist, said the process involved going through details with the CDPR team and dealing with AI artifacts that never fully disappear. The most difficult aspect was capturing Rozenek’s emotional range, including halftones, shouts, groans, anger, fear and laughter, according to Respeecher.

“The point is that this voice should be as close as possible to my voice from 12 years ago,” Rozenek said. He told Game File that when it comes to the dynamics and acting aspects of his voice, he feels good, really good. He expressed great trust in the creators and said the voice will match.

Localization producer Mikołaj Szwed said CDPR would not use AI to alter a voice without express permission and called this one of the ways to use AI ethically, with consent, to do something good. “this is one of those ways where you can use AI ethically, with consent and also to do something good,” he said. Szwed said CDPR’s contracts do not allow the studio to use any actor’s voice with AI unless the actor gives consent. He said working with voice actors across all regions is a big concern, and he framed the Rozenek case as a one-off case tied to the actor’s health.

This is not CDPR’s first use of Respeecher. The studio used the Ukrainian company in 2023 for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty to recreate Viktor Vektor’s voice after actor Miłogost ‘Miłek’ Reczek died in 2021, with his family’s blessing. Reczek had voiced Viktor Vektor in Cyberpunk 2077 and Vesemir in The Witcher 3, and his sons gave their blessing for the artificial generation of his father’s voice.

In Phantom Liberty, another actor recorded new lines for Viktor Vektor and Respeecher’s software made them sound like the late Miłogost Reczek. TechPowerUp contrasts this earlier posthumous use with Rozenek’s case, where the actor is alive, in the booth and approving of the process. CDPR reportedly dismissed casting a soundalike for Geralt because the studio wanted to keep Jacek Rozenek’s voice, and Shacknews reports Rozenek gave his blessing for generative AI enhancement, so his new voice lines would be closer to his old ones.

For The Witcher 4, CDPR does not plan to use the AI voice tool because an older, deeper Geralt voice fits the character and will not be jarring. Szwed said that for future projects where Geralt is older with a deeper voice, the difference is not a problem, unlike the situation of hearing 12-year-old and current voices side by side in Songs of the Past. CDPR is not planning similar AI voice treatment for Doug Cockle, the English voice of Geralt.

Songs of the Past releases in 2027 as a paid expansion on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, co-developed with Fool’s Theory. This expansion is the third Witcher 3 expansion and releases 12 years after the original game launched, following a major free update of the base game and its DLCs. The expansion adds an entirely new region called Letten and centers its story on Geralt’s missing friend Dandelion, whose family lives there.

CDPR feared the voice mismatch would stand out because new battle cries and one-liners can play in older parts of the map. Songs of the Past takes place in the same era as The Witcher 3 main game, meaning players will hear newly recorded lines and older lines in close succession. Game File reported a significant difference between treated and untreated recordings, describing the untreated voice as deep and gravelly and noticeably rougher, while the treated voice was smoother and younger. Stephen Totilo heard both versions and the treated version came closer to Rozenek’s original Witcher 3 Geralt recordings.

Rozenek has voiced Geralt in Polish since the original The Witcher game in 2007 and has 30 years of experience, according to Polygon. He recorded roughly 10,000 lines for The Witcher 3 in 2014, stayed on for Hearts of Stone in 2015 and Blood and Wine in 2016, and his Polish Geralt drew praise rivaling Doug Cockle’s. About a year ago, CD Projekt invited Rozenek to its studios to see how his voice sounded after his stroke and the passage of time; the team worried players might hear Geralt switch between two different voices from one scene to the next.

He has not listened to his AI-matched Geralt performance and is not in a hurry to do so, according to Kotaku via Voice Over Herald. Despite not hearing the result, he said he feels good about the acting aspects and is confident he can play the role. Rozenek joked that his long voice recovery finally showed him what his character’s work actually is.

Szwed said CDPR’s contracts require an actor’s consent before the studio uses that person’s voice with AI. Voice Over Herald states that if Rozenek plays an older Geralt in a later game, his voice remains unchanged because the change suits the character.

The disclosure arrives amid wider industry debate over AI-generated voice work and performer rights. Last month, the Japan Actors’ Union announced guidelines requiring that studios treat AI-replicated voice performances as new performances needing royalties or compensation. UKIE set up the AI Compliance and Accreditation Service with law firm Sheridans to help UK studios use AI in a lawful and responsible way.

SAG-AFTRA members ratified animation contracts in 2026 barring producers from using a digital replica to dub a performance into a different language unless the actor consents. In 2026, Jason Momoa’s German voice actor sued Netflix after Netflix told him it had trained AI on his voice. Last year, the Indie Game Awards stripped Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 of Game of the Year after AI-generated placeholder textures surfaced, and players found AI-generated art in Crimson Desert that was later patched out.

A remastered version of The Witcher 3 arrived a couple of months before November 2026, overhauling presentation, animations, enemy behaviors and skill trees. Because of this remaster, old-gen consoles PS4 and Xbox One will not receive Songs of the Past, even though The Witcher 3 is available on them. CDPR says the fourth mainline Witcher game is planned for 2028.