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Want to create lifelike voices for your game's NPCs? Look no further. Discover the best AI voice generators for NPCs in 2024
Gone are the days when video game developers need to hire voice actors when creating Non-Player Characters (NPCs).
Generative AI technologies like ElevenLabs’ text-to-speech model has opened the door for synthetic voice creation with cutting-edge customization and precision, allowing unprecedented efficiency, creative freedom, and global accessibility for game developers.
This article delves into the best voice generator platforms for NPCs, highlighting their key features, advantages, and potential limitations.
ElevenLabs offers three dynamic tools for AI-driven character voice generation: an extensive Voice Library resource, an industry-leading text-to-speech model that synthesizes life-like character voices, and dubbing, which can smoothly adapt character voices into multiple languages.
ElevenLabs' text-to-speech tool is available for a trial at no cost. For more comprehensive use, subscription plans vary based on your needs—from $5 for individuals to $330/month for company use.
5/5
Replica Studios were the first to open the floodgates on AI usage for game character voices. They’ve been building up the capabilities of their AI voice actors since 2021, and last year announced Replica Smart NPCs, promising NPC-specific software for gaming that can fully voice 100s of characters in no time.
Solo developers can expect to pay $10/month for Replica software, with their first month free. The more comprehensive Indie Plan is $30/month, while pros will pay $100/month or more according to their needs.
3/5
The Speechify Voice Over Generator creates natural voiceovers from text, allowing the user to select from 100+ AI voices in 60 languages.
Speechify is costly. Users can test out the tool online for free, but to download your generated voices, plans start at $24.00/month.
2/5
PlayHT’s voice cloning and text-to-speech tools are designed specifically for use in games, movies, and animation. Voices generated are industry quality and offer
PlayHT does offer a free plan, but it’s limited to online usage and only allows for 5,000 free words per month. Professional plans currently start at $31.20/month.
4/5
Synthesia is primarily an AI video generator. However, it has recently added a built-in text-to-speech function to its wheelhouse, allowing creators to generate natural-sounding voiceovers.
After a free trial of some simple demo features, subscriptions to Synthesia range from £23-£69/month [or approx. $29-87/month], making it one of the more expensive options.
2/5
Murf.AI is one of the fastest-growing AI software providers out there. They offer 120+ text-to-speech voices in 20+ languages, and an all-in-one AI voice generator along with voice cloning tech.
A Creator starter plan will cost you $23/month, while a fully comprehensive business plan increases to $79/month.
3/5
Listnr is a Generative AI Engine that uses a library of 1000+ voices to create voiceovers, along with offering voice cloning capabilities.
Users can get 20 downloads/exports per month and 1GB storage for free, or upgrade to Student ($5/month), Individual ($19/month) or Solo ($39/month) price plans.
2/5
When selecting your NPC voice generator, bear the following considerations in mind.
Synthetic speech varies in its ability to recreate the work of real voice actors. While tools like Listnr are good for corporate presentations and voiceovers, engaging NPC voices need to be expressive, emotive, and characterful.
ElevenLabs' text-to-speech tool, for example, personalizes each character's voice, taking into account their narrative role, personality, and background. These characters will respond with life-like emotion as the storyline unfolds, each maintaining consistency in a unique tonal quality and personality.
If you’re hoping to capture the imagination of gamers worldwide, it’s critical to make sure your NPCs will sound at home in a variety of languages. Some platforms offer a range of languages, but differences in dialect that would be obvious to a native speaker are left lacking. On the other hand, tools like ElevenLabs can generate authentic, life-like speech in 28 languages.
NPCs can provide a high level of creative control for game developers—these characters can be personalized by the game creators in every aspect, especially voice. ElevenLabs' synthetic voices can be customized to adapt accent, language, emotion, and speaker profile. The more you can fine-tune character voices and adapt them to different situational contexts, the more lifelike, engaging, and exciting a collection of NPCs can be.
NPC speech generation can be an incredibly time-consuming process—the more NPCs you want to create, and therefore how fleshed-out and engaging your game will be, the greater this time-suck. AI tools present the opportunity for game developers to turn months into seconds, so it’s important to consider how rapid, easy to learn, and easy to adjust your character voice model would be.
AI voice generators like ElevenLabs, Replica Studios, and Speechify enable game developers to animate NPCs with striking, lifelike voices, enhancing narrative depth and player immersion. These technologiesoffer vast voice libraries, multilingual support, and customizable features, optimizing NPC dialogue for emotional resonance and global reach.
With the perfect voice generator for NPCs, developers can ensure narratives are rich, engaging, and accessible, all while cutting costs and labor-intensiveness in their development workflow.
As the demand for more interactive and immersive games grows, selecting the ideal voice generation platform becomes crucial, shaping the future of storytelling and game development.
Want to try ElevenLabs' NPC voice generation capabilities for yourself? Get started here.
Our AI text to speech technology delivers thousands of high-quality, human-like voices in 32 languages. Whether you’re looking for a free text to speech solution or a premium voice AI service for commercial projects, our tools can meet your needs
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