Dawnwalker lead says AI can copy his voice, but not his acting
The actor behind Coen in The Blood of Dawnwalker says generative AI can copy how his voice sounds, but not how he performs. Will de Renzy-Martin plays the lead in the English-language version of the game. He discussed human acting against AI-generated voice lines in a teaser for an upcoming episode of the My Perfect Console Podcast, reported on 12 October 2026. Eurogamer
The Blood of Dawnwalker is an open-world dark fantasy action role-playing game. Open-world means players can explore a large map freely rather than follow a fixed path. It is set in 14th-century Europe, and players take the role of Coen, who lives as a human by day and a vampire by night. Bandai Namco
In the teaser, de Renzy-Martin said the least interesting thing about his work is the way his voice sounds. That sound, he argued, is all that generative AI is able to replicate. Generative AI here means software that produces speech based on patterns learned from existing recordings.
His point was blunt. AI does not copy his personality. It also misses the small, in-room actions and choices he makes while performing, from timing to physical response, which he described as the reasons a director or producer would want to work with him.
The remarks come after confirmation that developer Rebel Wolves used text-to-speech AI tools while preparing the game. Text-to-speech turns written lines into temporary spoken audio. The studio used those computer voices to plan cinematics, which are the non-playable story scenes, before hiring actors to perform the final roles.
De Renzy-Martin is familiar to game players from several recent parts. He played Corentin de Grandemange in The Sinking City 2. He also played Henry Bancroft in 007 First Light and Shade in Star Wars: Galactic Racer.
For players, this draws a clear line between planning and performance. A synthetic voice can read a line on time. It cannot decide how Coen should hesitate, threaten or grieve in a scene.
The full conversation is expected in the forthcoming My Perfect Console Podcast episode. It will place de Renzy-Martin’s view alongside a wider industry debate about where automated voices belong and where actors remain central.
