Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown launches next week, but players are likely to encounter an amusing bug as they make their way through the game, as reported by IGN. One of the game’s NPCs is voiced by a text-to-speech program, complete with the slightly robotic tones we’ve come to associate with these services. 

It’s not quite Siri or Alexa, but it’s close and certainly doesn’t fit the game’s Persian-inspired setting. The NPC-in-question is a tree spirit named Kalux and seems to be voiced by a TTS program that’s available online for free and typically used by streamers.

This isn’t an “AI is coming for your jobs” type thing, but rather a mistake on Ubisoft’s part, as each and every other NPC is attached to a voice actor. IGN notes that Kalux doesn’t have a voice actor in the credits. Additionally, Kalux only has a few lines, so it likely won’t be a tough fix to assign an actor to deliver that dialogue. Ubisoft has readied a day-one patch, but it won’t handle the Kalux issue. Look for another patch in late January or early February that replaces the bot with a human.

Ubisoft confirmed the error and said that the “English version of these eight lines of text for this character were not properly implemented," going on to note that the game has more than 12,000 lines of dialogue across multiple languages. Game developers often use TTS services and AI voices to create placeholder dialogue, which is eventually replaced by human actors. The company just forgot to handle this one character.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown releases on January 15 for just about every platform out there, including the Nintendo Switch and PC. It’s the first franchise installment since 2010’s Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. This is a Metroidvania-style platformer that brings the series back to its 2D roots. Reviews are mostly positive, with many praising it for offering a true AAA Metroidvania experience in the spirit of Nintendo’s recent-ish Metroid Dread.

However, just because this particular instance was a mistake, doesn’t mean that AI-enhanced TTS services aren’t going to radically change the industry. CD Projekt Red recently used AI to include a deceased actor's voice in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty and SAG-AFTRA recently struck a deal with an AI voice acting platform to make it easier for actors to license their voice as a digital replica for use in games.

Sony shared its upcoming PlayStation Plus free games for January on Wednesday. Headlining this month’s batch are Capcom’s 2019 Resident Evil 2 remake and the Borderlands spinoff Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. PS Plus Extra and Premium subscribers can claim the 14 new games on January 16.

The Resident Evil 2 remake (PS5 / PS4) is far from just a fresh coat of paint. Although the revamp retains the core gameplay elements from the 1998 original, it’s visually unrecognizable, now running on Capcom’s RE Engine. “It feels like a contemporary title,” Engadget’s Jessica Conditt wrote in a 2018 preview.

Capcom

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands: Next-Level Edition (PS5, PS4) takes one of Borderlands’ most memorable NPCs and drops you into a genre-blending fantasy world conjured from her macabre and erratic imagination. Expanding on the ideas from the Borderlands 2 DLC Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep, Gearbox’s spinoff (and Dungeons & Dragons parody) includes magic, guns and chaotic instant revisions to the game world. It also has star-studded voice work from Andy Samberg, Wanda Sykes and Will Arnett.

Other claimable titles this month include salvaging sci-fi physics sim Hardspace: Shipbreaker (PS5), Lego’s rare non-IP installment Lego City Undercover (PS4), 2015 action-adventure title Just Cause 3, tactical stealth game Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun (PS4), narrative RPG Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong (PS5 / PS4) and post-apocalyptic strategy title Surviving the Aftermath (PS4).

Capcom

This month’s redeemable classic (retro) titles include the Street Fighter: 30th Anniversary Collection (PS4), which collects 12 classic games in the fighting series, including the original installment and the trendsetting Street Fighter II. Secret of Mana (PS4), Legend of Mana (PS4), Star Wars: Episode 1 The Phantom Menace (PS5 / PS4) and Rally Cross (PS5 / PS4) will also be available for subscribers starting on on January 16.

Taylor Swift is not giving out free Le Creuset products in social media advertisements — though deepfakes of her voice would like you to believe otherwise. A series of posts have recently surfaced on TikTok and in Meta's Ad Library claiming to show Swift offering free Le Creuset cookware sets, the New York Times reports. The ads featured clips where Swift was near Le Creuset products and used a synthetic version of her voice. The scammers used AI to have the cloned voice address her fans, "Swifties," and produce other little remarks. 

These posts led interested parties to fake versions of sites like The Food Network with made-up articles and testimonials about Le Creuset. Shoppers were then asked just to provide the $9.96 for shipping to get their free products. Unsurprisingly, no Dutch ovens arrived, and customers had additional monthly charges added to their cards. Le Creuset confirmed no such giveaway was occurring. 

Swift is hardly the only celebrity who has recently found their voice co-opted using AI. She's not even the only one used in the scam, with interior designer Joanna Gaines mimicked in ads from verified accounts or ones labeled as sponsored posts. In April 2023, the Better Business Bureau warned consumers about the high quality of ads featuring AI-manufactured versions of celebrities. Since then, scammers have used deepfakes to convince consumers that Luke Combs was selling weight loss gummies, Tom Hanks was promoting dental plans and Gayle King was selling other weight loss products, to name a few examples. 

Little regulation exists for monitoring deepfakes or punishing the people who create them. A lot of the responsibility currently falls on the platforms, with YouTube, for example, laying out new steps for reporting deepfakes. At the same time, its working with select musicians to loan their voices out and create greater interest in AI-generated versions of real people. 

Last year, two bills were introduced in Congress to address deepfakes: The No Fakes Act and the Deepfakes Accountability Act. However, the fate of both pieces of legislation is uncertain. At the moment, only select states, such as California and Florida, have any AI regulation. 

Netflix’s long-anticipated sci-fi series 3 Body Problem finally has a full trailer, following a short teaser released last year. This new trailer is over two minutes long and absolutely filled with exciting moments and tantalizing clues. Watch it below.

The show’s based on a hit book series by Chinese author Liu Cixin. The showrunners include David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, formerly of Game of Thrones. Yes, everyone hates them because of the ending of HBO’s fantasy epic, but here’s the thing. 3 Body Problem is the first novel in the finished Remembrance of Earth's Past series, and the earlier seasons of Game of Thrones, when working from pre-existing material, were absolutely iconic. So this could be very good, though it has suffered from delays.

As for the plot, well it’s complicated and hard to even discuss without getting into spoilers. The books are out there if you can’t wait until the show’s March 21 release date. As a clue, the clunky title actually refers to a common problem with both classical physics and quantum physics involving Newton’s laws of motion and universal gravitation. In other words, it’s hard sci-fi, but the books have plenty of action and mystery set-pieces, and the show looks to follow suit. Expect plenty of advanced technologies and otherworldly weirdness.

3 Body Problem stars Benedict Wong, Eiza González and several Game of Thrones alums including Jonathan Pryce and John Bradley. Besides Benioff and Weiss, screenwriter Alexander Woo is on-board as a co-showrunner. Woo’s best known for his work on True Blood and The Terror, among other well-regarded series.

SAG-AFTRA, the union representing thousands of performers, has struck a deal with an AI voice acting platform aimed at making it easier for actors to license their voice for use in video games. Under the deal, which was announced during a press event at CES 2024, SAG-AFTRA members will be able to work with Replica Studios to license their voice to game studios.

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union's top negotiator, said that the agreement “paves the way for professional voiceover artists to safely explore new employment opportunities for their digital voice replicas.” The agreement comes as Hollywood is still grappling with the use of AI. Last year, SAG-AFTRA reached a deal with Hollywood studios that included AI protections following a months-long strike. As a result, studios are now required to pay actors (and obtain their consent) before using an AI-generated version of their likeness.

SAG-AFTRA’s latest agreement with Replica Studios seems to follow a similar framework. According to Crabtree, the agreements cover the creation of so-called “digital voice replicas” and how they can be used by game studios and other companies. The deal has provisions for minimum rates, safe storage and transparency equirements, as well as “limitations on the amount of time that a performance replica can be employed without further payment and consent.”

Notably, the agreement does not cover whether actors’ replicas can be used to train large language models (LLMs), though Replica Studios CEO Shreyas Nivas said the company was interested in pursuing such an arrangement. “We have been talking to so many of the large AAA studios about this use case,” Nivas said. He added that LLMs are “out-of-scope of this agreement” but “they will hopefully [be] things that we will continue to work on and partner on.”

SAG-AFTRA’s deal with Replica only covers a sliver of the game industry. Separately, the union is also negotiating with several of the major game studios after authorizing a strike last fall. “I certainly hope that the video game companies will take this as an inspiration to help us move forward in that negotiation,” Crabtree said.

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

The modern classic mystery game Immortality is finally coming to PS5 on January 23 and it’ll cost $20, which is in line with the price on other platforms. It already exists on PC, Xbox Series X/S, Android and iOS. The game was originally released back in 2022.

For the uninitiated, Immortality is more of an interactive film trilogy than a video game, recalling full-motion titles from the 1990s. The surreal narrative tasks you with solving the disappearance of an actress named Marissa Marcel. You do this by scrubbing through video clips and gathering clues. Creator Sam Barlow has likened the gameplay to a “mental Metroidvania”, in that you return to previously-viewed clips once you have a new understanding of some aspect of the mystery.

We loved the title upon release and it made our list of the best games of 2022. The script, penned by writers behind films like Wild at Heart and TV shows like Mr. Robot, is not just good for a video game, but engaging throughout. The atmosphere is moody and tense, recalling the cinematic stylings of Alfred Hitchcock and, especially, David Lynch. Immortality is geared more towards cinephiles than mainstream gamers, so don’t expect a lot of action. The acting performances, however, are excellent.

Sam Barlow made a similar game called Her Story, which was also well-received, and the less popular Telling Lies. He’s been involved with several entries in the Silent Hill franchise, including Silent Hill: Origins and Silent Hill: Shattered.

The second season of HBO's adaptation of The Last of Us is about to go into production. That means we're starting to find out the actors who have been cast in key roles from the second game, including the most pivotal new character of them all, Abby. No spoilers here, but Kaitlyn Dever, the star of Booksmart and No One Will Save You, is taking on the challenging role. (Let's just say we hope she nukes all of her social media accounts.)

“Our casting process for season two has been identical to season one: we look for world-class actors who embody the souls of the characters in the source material,” the show's co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann told Variety. “Nothing matters more than talent, and we’re thrilled to have an acclaimed performer like Kaitlyn join Pedro [Pascal], Bella [Ramsay] and the rest of our family.”

Abby is described as “a skilled soldier whose black-and-white view of the world is challenged as she seeks vengeance for those she loved.” As it happens, Dever and Druckmann have worked together in the past. She played Cassie, the daughter of Nathan Drake, in the epilogue of Uncharted 4, a game that Druckmann co-directed.

Dever is joining the series just after it won eight Emmy awards (including acting honors for Storm Reid and Nick Offerman), and that's even before the delayed main ceremony takes place this Sunday. Pascal and Ramsay are nominated for their performances, while the show is up for Outstanding Drama Series. Overall, The Last of Us snagged 24 Emmy nominations this year, more than any other show except for Succession.

It’s official. The Mandalorian and his little green buddy are coming to the big screen, and before Dave Filoni’s long-anticipated crossover film event. The movie, appropriately titled The Mandalorian & Grogu, will be helmed by Jon Favreau, who created the Disney+ streaming TV show.

Fans have been speculating why there hasn’t been a renewal announcement regarding a new season of The Mandalorian, and this could be why. The film’s going into production this year, which is likely when a new season of the show would have been created. Beyond Favreau, the producers include franchise luminaries Kathleen Kennedy and Dave Filoni. There’s no plot synopsis, but Kennedy says the “new story is a perfect fit for the big screen.”

Director Jon Favreau not only created The Mandalorian TV show, but kickstarted the entire MCU when he directed a little film called Iron Man. He also helmed Elf, Swingers and live-action remakes of The Lion King and The Jungle Book.

Disney has offered no information regarding where in the timeline this film would take place, but one assumes it would be set directly following the events of both The Mandalorian season 3 and the first season of Ahsoka. This means that Mando and his ridiculously cute ward could become involved with Grand Admiral Thrawn’s attempts to rebuild the empire.

In a short span of time, we’ve gone from wondering if there would ever be another Star Wars movie to there being, well, a whole bunch of them. The Mandalorian & Grogu will likely lead to Dave Filoni’s unnamed crossover movie that features characters from across ‘The Mandoverse’, including Ahsoka, Boba Fett, Ezra Bridger, CGI Luke Skywalker and more.

There’s also a movie in the works chronicling the further adventures of Rey, directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, and a film exploring the origins of the Jedi and Sith directed by James Mangold. On the TV side of things, Ahsoka has been greenlit for a second season. Before that, however, there’s the Jude Law vehicle Skeleton Crew and a show set hundreds of years before the Skywalker Saga called The Acolyte. Star Wars: The Bad Batch is also getting a third and final season.

Even though it often seems Behaviour Interactive is on the verge of running out of horror icons to add to Dead by Daylight, it's still managing to bring notable characters to the hit survival horror game. The next well-known name to hit DbD is the one and only Alan Wake.

One of the protagonists of Alan Wake 2, widely regarded as one of the best games of 2023, the renowned author is officially coming to DbD on January 30 as part of the next chapter. However, you can try playing as the new survivor on the latest public test build on Steam right now.

Actors Ilkka Villi and Matthew Porretta are once again lending their likeness and voice, respectively, to Alan Wake. As you might expect, you'll hear new voicelines from Wake as he tries to survive the horrors of The Fog. Of course, he wields a flashlight in this game too. Wake gets extra movement speed while shining a flashlight and if he successfully dazzles a killer, they'll be temporarily slowed down.

Alan Wake is joining a litany of classic horror characters in Dead by Daylight, including Chucky, the Demogorgon from Stranger Things, the Xenomorph and Ellen Ripley from Alien and Sadako from The Ring. Nicolas Cage (yes, the actual Nicolas Cage) is in the game too.

Microsoft has set a date for its next gaming showcase. Its second Developer_Direct event will include more details on Avowed, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II and strategy title Ara: History Untold. Most intriguingly though, MachineGames will at long last reveal details about its Indiana Jones game, three years after the project was announced.

The Wolfenstein studio will offer up over 10 minutes of game and developer insights. Along with the first gameplay trailer, we'll learn about the story and setting and find out just how you'll control the legendary archeologist.

On the Avowed front, Obsidian will take a deep dive into some gameplay from the action RPG, which should hit Xbox and PC this year. We'll see gameplay from Oxide Games' Civilization-esque Ara: History Untold too. Last but not least, Ninja Theory will offer a behind the scenes peek at Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II. Perhaps we'll finally get a release date for that title, which is slated to arrive this year.

The first edition of Developer_Direct took place last January. It was then that Microsoft both announced and suddenly released Hi-Fi Rush, one of the most highly rated games of 2023. Perhaps Microsoft will have a similar surprise up its sleeves this year.

One thing's for certain though: there won't be any updates on Activision Blizzard games. Xbox says its freshly acquired publisher will have news to share later this year.

The Developer_Direct will start at 3PM ET on January 18, and you'll be able to watch it on Xbox's and Bethesda's social channels. Afterwards, at 4PM ET, Elder Scrolls Online fans can tune in to a global reveal to find out what's coming to the MMORPG in its next major chapter.