Translation staff for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 appear to be being replaced by AI technology.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 was an incredibly successful game, but a recent event is likely to have some negative consequences.

Game translators appear to have been laid off because AI is doing the job for them.

Amidst the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI), its application to the video game industry has become a hotly debated topic. The debates are generally divided into two camps: one side views AI as a tool to enhance technological efficiency, while the other argues that using generative programs to replace creative roles demonstrates a lack of passion and dedication.

Perhaps the biggest issue that opponents of AI in games highlight is staff reduction – mass layoffs aimed at saving costs leave teams short of personnel, and AI is expected to fill that void. A recent example cited comes from a former Warhorse Studios employee who claimed their position was terminated to make way for an AI replacement during development.

The person mentioned in this incident, who identifies himself as  Max H , stated that he had worked at Warhorse Studios since July 2022 as a translator from Czech to English. However, on March 26th, he was invited to a meeting and unexpectedly received notification that his position would be "no longer needed" from April. According to Max H, the company explained that to operate "more efficiently" and "save costs," they had decided to use "AI for all future translation operations."

Waiting for a response from Warhorse Studios

Max H stated that discussions about applying AI to translation at  Warhorse Studios  had been ongoing, and he was among those "strongly opposed" to these changes. Currently, Max H feels  "betrayed ," but still urges the gaming community not to harass other employees or bombard Warhorse Studios' product reviews. At this time, Warhorse Studios has not issued any official statement regarding Max H's allegations.

Reddit administrators   claim to have verified Max H's identity, but they haven't explained how. Several other comments suggest they've found LinkedIn accounts potentially linked to Max H, but these haven't been verified. It's important to note that verifying someone's identity isn't a guarantee that the allegations are true. Therefore, more time is needed to assess the situation. Given the number of layoffs in the gaming industry over the past few years, it's impossible to know whether Warhorse will make an official statement about this.