Gaming is changing — and voice is leading the charge. For years, game worlds have relied on scripted dialogue and pre-set NPC interactions, but conversational AI is breaking those limits, making characters more responsive, immersive, and alive.

AI-powered characters are no longer limited to scripted paths — they now react in real time to player choices, reshaping storytelling and increasing player control. Major developers are already integrating this technology, enhancing NPC dialogue and crafting AI-driven companions that feel truly lifelike.

Take Callum, a Wizard AI agent built with ElevenLabs Conversational AI. He can serve as a Dungeon Master, deliver in-game exposition, or even guide players through tricky puzzles. With AI like this, it’s easy to see how conversational agents can seamlessly weave into gaming, turning NPCs into engaging, dynamic companions.

Redefining media with Conversational Voice AI

From gaming to streaming, the future of media is powered by voice. Increasingly, audiences are seeking immersive, real-time experiences that blur the line between creator and consumer. 

Conversational voice AI is already proving to be a key feature of this shift and is a technology that has become commonplace for consumers, with personalization and interactivity now largely expected of the smart devices we use day to day.When it comes to gaming, however, we are yet to see a fully integrated application of conversational voice AI technology — surprising, given its inherent interactivity as a media and the rich storytelling that is so crucial to any successful gaming experience. 

These factors make voice AI a natural fit for gaming. Adoption is growing, led by major developers, but challenges remain. Challenges like latency, cost and narrative consistency remain key hurdles, but ongoing advancements are steadily bridging these gaps.

Even with these challenges, the signs are clear: conversational voice AI is set to shift expectations for gaming experiences. As its applications grow, it’s not just redefining how we play but how we connect with stories, characters, and worlds.

A Growing Market: Conversational AI in Media and Entertainment

The conversational AI market is growing fast. Globally, it’s expected to jump from $13.2 billion in 2024 to $49.9 billion by 2030, as interactive technologies become more mainstream. Within the media and entertainment sector as a whole, AI applications are set to grow at a solid 17.5% annual rate, reaching $10.24 billion in 2024 and $51.37 billion by 2034. 

This boom is fueled by the demand for more personalized experiences, smarter recommendations, and dynamic ways to engage audiences — and gaming is no exception.

This impact of AI on the gaming industry is significant. AI is projected to contribute a $3.1 billion revenue boost to the gaming industry by the end of 2024, and conversational voice AI is emerging as one of the most defining trends shaping the sector. What’s more, 70% of game developers view AI as essential to the next generation of video games, underscoring its central role in future gameplay experiences. And while not all developers are committing their research to conversational voice AI at present, we predict the developers that implement correctly will lead the way through increased player retention and satisfaction.

Use Cases

With this in mind, it’s clear that Conversational voice AI is already a firm part of many development studios’ plans — and we see vast potential for its application across open-world games, multiplayer communities, and in-game tutorials.

Enhanced NPC interactions and companions

At the forefront of gaming innovation, studios are already implementing conversational voice AI to enhance interactions with non-player characters (NPCs).

One standout example is Inworld AI, whose Unreal Engine 5 plugin provides a powerful toolkit for creating lifelike NPCs with motivations, goals, and unique backstories. Inworld’s Contextual Mesh ensures characters stay true to the game world, while its Character Brain feature drives realistic performances, allowing emotions to influence tone of voice, animations, and facial expressions. Developers can even integrate player profiles, relationships, and character goals into gameplay loops, unlocking novel mechanics and more immersive storytelling opportunities. 

With a valuation of $500 million and significant funding, Inworld is rapidly establishing itself as a leader in the field. 

Elsewhere, Electronic Arts (EA) is exploring how AI can elevate NPC behavior through their SEED (Search for Extraordinary Experiences Division), setting new standards for engagement. Meanwhile, Nvidia’s Avatar Cloud Engine (ACE) powers AI-driven characters, enabling natural, conversational interactions that go beyond the limits of a traditional ‘narrative branch’ system. As Nvidia’s John Spitzer puts it, their aim is to deliver the “complex animations and conversational speech required to make digital interactions feel real.”

Ubisoft’s NEO NPC Project leverages Nvidia's Audio2Face and Inworld's Large Language Model to create NPCs that respond authentically to player choices while staying deeply tied to game lore. The result is dialogue that feels both spontaneous and consistent with the narrative.In this case, Ubisoft’s designers have crafted backstories and personalities to ensure that NPCs maintain a level of authenticity that stays true to the gameplay. What’s more, as seen in the below demo video, players can actively build relationships with the NPCs they encounter through the nature and tone of conversation, which in turn impacts how the narrative unfolds. Ubisoft have also also been careful to add filters for player toxicity and mechanisms to keep interactions within the narrative's scope.

For studios not yet ready to dive fully into conversational voice AI, there are ways to begin exploring the possibilities with less commitment. One common first step is leveraging Text-to-Speech (TTS) technology to create “scratch” dialogue for testing character interactions before recording with voice actors. This approach not only streamlines early-stage development but also allows for rapid iteration. As studios grow more comfortable with the technology, they may transition to using TTS for entire character voice overs, handling everything from initial creation to final implementation.

Conversational voice AI is making NPCs more dynamic and responsive, allowing studios to create richer interactions that feel more lifelike.

Unique narratives, time and time again

It’s clear, then, how conversational voice AI can expand the narrative potential of gaming, offering stories that evolve in unexpected directions based on player decisions.=

This is especially powerful in open-world games like Bethesda’s Fallout series or Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto. These titles, known for their deep storytelling and rich environments, already allow early decisions to shape later outcomes. By integrating conversational AI, developers can add new layers of interactivity - unlocking unique dialogue, hidden easter eggs, and dynamic storylines with every replay.

For studios, of course, this means greater replayability and an extension of game lifecycles that for the aforementioned titles, already span a decade. Players are encouraged to return, exploring missed opportunities and fresh outcomes, creating a win-win for both engagement and profitability.

The challenge, of course, is scale. Open-world games are already vast undertakings, and incorporating conversational AI requires developers to design even more diverse outcomes. Yet, as the technology matures, we expect that the ability to enrich gameplay will make these efforts well worth the investment.

Community

For many players, community sits at the heart of their gaming experience. The explosion of platforms like Twitch, and to a lesser extent Discord, illustrate this perfectly — in 2024 so far, Twitch has received over 17.1 billion monthly visits, with around 6.91 million active streamers and nearly 56,531,804 hours of content daily — figures that highlight its immense reach and relevance as a hub for gaming communities.

Even beyond gaming, this communal ethos has influenced how brands and companies approach their strategies, with many now prioritizing the cultivation of authentic, organic communities at the core of their identity and marketing. Conversational voice AI has the potential to enhance these spaces, adding a new layer of interactivity and engagement that complements existing dynamics.

Take ai_licia, for example. Designed specifically for Twitch and Discord, ai_licia acts as an AI co-host, enriching live streams with entertaining and personalized interactions. Its seamless integration with Twitch allows it to match the tone and personality of a typical community member, making interactions feel natural and relevant.

Powered by ElevenLabs, ai_licia is customizable to align with each community’s culture and preferred games. Its cross-platform memory sets it apart, enabling it to recognize and remember users across sessions, fostering a sense of belonging. Beyond engagement, ai_licia can also streamline onboarding for new members, ensuring they quickly find their place within the community.

While still in its early stages, conversational AI tools like ai_licia demonstrate the immense potential for reshaping gaming communities. By fostering stronger bonds, improving retention, and encouraging deeper connections, conversational voice AI is set to redefine how players and fans interact in gaming’s most vibrant spaces.

Training and tutorials: elevating in-game guidance

One of the clearest opportunities for conversational voice AI lies in in-game tutorials. By enabling dynamic voice interactions, developers can make learning more engaging and accessible for players.

Chess.com provides a perfect example. Their Dr. Wolf tutor was already popular as a text-based tool for helping players refine their chess skills. To take this further, Chess.com partnered with ElevenLabs to give Dr. Wolf a warm, authoritative voice. The result? A more immersive and intuitive experience that’s helped over 100 million users - especially younger learners - engage more naturally with the app.

For developers, this success highlights a key takeaway: conversational voice AI isn’t just a feature. It’s a way to deepen player engagement, improve retention, and create a more intuitive user experience.

Challenges

While we see conversational voice AI as a natural evolution for enriching in-game experiences — and with significant investment from major players — the path to full integration isn’t without its hurdles. For conversational AI to truly revolutionise gaming, several challenges require attention. 

Latency: the need for real-time interaction

Seamless interaction is critical for keeping players immersed, but latency remains a major hurdle. Players expect natural, real-time dialogue, yet current technologies often struggle to deliver this. Large Language Models (LLMs) like GPT-3 can take 3–15 seconds to respond, far exceeding the ideal 200–800 millisecond window for human-like exchanges. These delays are to be expected but ultimately take away from immersion, and break the flow of gameplay for users.

Voice-based AI adds further complexity, with the speech-to-speech process (recognition, response generation, and delivery) introducing additional delays. Technologies like edge computing, which process data closer to players, are helping to reduce response times. We’re continuing to drive down the latency of our text to speech to as low as 200 ms for generation and network time. 

Maintaining narrative consistency

Branching storylines are one of gaming’s most compelling features, but they also present challenges. Conversational AI must adapt to player decisions while keeping the story coherent, a task complicated by memory limitations in current models, which can lose track of key narrative details.

Developers are addressing this by building systems to track essential story elements, ensuring interactions remain consistent and aligned with the game’s plot. They’re also using player feedback to refine AI responses and ensure the technology enhances rather than disrupts the narrative. Advances in real-time processing are allowing games to adapt dynamically to player choices, helping conversational AI integrate more naturally into complex storylines.

Cost

One of the biggest hurdles for developers is the cost of wide-scale implementation of conversational voice AI. Game development is already a significant financial undertaking, spanning years and requiring substantial investment. Take Grand Theft Auto VI, for example - despite the release of its first trailer in December 2023, its launch date remains unknown, marking over a decade since the release of GTA V. The production of such blockbuster titles involves mammoth costs, underscoring the financial pressures studios face before they even bring a game to market.

Games typically retail for $60–$70, with optional expansion packs or in-game purchases often extending their lifecycle. For titles like GTA V, these add-ons are embraced by players and provide studios with additional revenue streams without significantly altering the upfront cost of the base game. However, implementing conversational AI would introduce not only higher production costs but also ongoing expenses tied to running LLMs as players engage with the game. These increased costs could push studios to either absorb the expense or pass it on to consumers through higher price points.

Yet, this challenge presents an opportunity. Studios could explore new pricing models, such as subscriptions or tiered AI features, to balance development costs and player access. With the right approach, developers can turn AI-driven features into a sustainable revenue stream.

Gamer buy-in

As with many AI innovations, the ultimate success of conversational AI in gaming depends on one critical factor: gamer buy-in. While this technology offers immense potential, it’s likely to face resistance from some players—particularly gaming purists who view AI’s presence as an unwelcome shift that could undermine a game’s authenticity.

This skepticism isn’t unfounded, as past attempts to implement AI into games have occasionally backfired. For example, Keywords Studios’ Project Ava, which aimed to create a 2D game entirely using AI, failed because the technology fell short of replacing human talent and required intervention from seven separate game development studios to rectify. Similarly, Microsoft’s Copilot+ PCs, designed for AI-powered gaming, encountered significant compatibility issues - only half of the 1,300 tested PC games functioned without errors, with popular titles like Fortnite, League of Legends, and Halo Infinite experiencing crashes and startup problems. These missteps underscore the risks of poorly integrated AI systems, which can alienate players and disrupt the gaming experience.

When implemented well, conversational AI can create richer gameplay narratives, enhancing both single-player and community-driven experiences. For this to succeed at scale, AI must go beyond being a gimmick or afterthought - it needs to genuinely enhance the game’s storytelling, interactivity, and immersion. Players will buy in when they see that conversational AI adds meaningful value, creating richer, more engaging experiences without compromising the authenticity they’ve come to expect.

Looking ahead

While challenges like latency, narrative consistency, and cost are real, they’re far from insurmountable. With ongoing innovation in response times and branching narrative capabilities, conversational voice AI is poised to deliver seamless, immersive experiences that redefine gaming.

Beyond gameplay, this technology represents a significant opportunity for studios to enhance player retention and drive ROI through richer narratives, dynamic interactions, and stronger community engagement. Unlike generative AI, conversational voice AI layers naturally onto existing game worlds, enriching the experience without disrupting established stories or mechanics.

At ElevenLabs, we’re proud to help developers bring lifelike characters and meaningful interactions to life. The potential of conversational voice AI to transform not just gaming but all media is immense—and we’re excited to shape this evolution.

Conversational voice AI is no longer just an emerging technology—it’s here, and the time to adopt it is now. By unlocking new possibilities for immersive, personalized, and interactive experiences, it’s redefining how players engage with games and communities.

While challenges exist, innovative solutions are bridging the gap, making conversational voice AI both feasible and ROI-positive. At ElevenLabs, we see this technology as a transformative force and are proud to be at the forefront, helping developers create richer, more dynamic experiences. The future of gaming is conversational, and we’re just getting started.