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CD Projekt used AI to lip-sync 10 languages in Cyberpunk 2077

CD Projekt used AI to lip-sync 10 languages in Cyberpunk 2077

Polish games studio CD Projekt used artificial intelligence to do full lip-syncing for 10 different languages in the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077.

That's according to a presentation done by the studio's lead character technical director Mateusz Popławskias spotted by Twitter user @shinobi602 – who said that the company had aimed to do better lip-syncing than its previous game, The Witcher 3.

CD Projekt teamed up with facial animation firm Jali Research to have characters' lips sync up with ten different languages: English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Mandarin and Japanese.

Localisation and treating non-English speaking countries has been a focus for CD Projekt since its early days. The company's big rise to success started when it localised Innerplay's Baldur's Gate for the firm's native Poland, producing a high-quality package that local consumers were prepared to spend money on rather than pirating the title as was usually the case in the post-communism 1990s.

The studio has already been rewarded for its commitment to localisation: China is apparently the top region for Cyberpunk 2077 pre-orders, likely due to the fact it's been fully localised into both Simplified Chinese and Mandarin.

CD Projekt has, of course, come under fire recently for reportedly mandating six-day workweeks for staff in the buildup to the highly-anticipated Cyberpunk 2077's launch. This came after the studio made a big song and dance about how the game would be made without "mandatory" crunch.

The sci-fi RPG is set to launch on November 19th following two delays. Cyberpunk 2077 was initially set for an April release, but was bumped to September at the start of 2020. The game was then pushed back two months to its current slot.


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.