Sony is currently exploring AI-driven adaptations of PlayStation characters, beginning with a prototype of Aloy, the protagonist from Horizon Forbidden West.
As reported by The Verge, an internal video—shared anonymously—demonstrates Aloy responding to voice prompts in real-time, with AI-generated speech and facial animations.
This prototype was developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment in collaboration with Guerrilla Games. It was showcased by Sharwin Raghoebardajal, Director of Software Engineering, who explained that the demonstration utilizes OpenAI’s Whisper for speech-to-text, GPT-4 and Llama 3 for dialogue and decision-making, along with Sony’s proprietary tools such as Emotional Voice Synthesis (EVS) for voice generation and Mockingbird for audio-to-face animation.
Although the demo was initially run on a PC, Raghoebardajal noted that Sony has also tested the technology on PlayStation 5 hardware, where it showed minimal impact on performance. A preliminary version of this AI system was developed a year ago, with a more refined version presented at the Sony Technology Exchange Fair (STEF) in Tokyo last November.
At this time, Sony has not announced any plans to introduce AI-powered characters in publicly released games. The Aloy prototype was designed as an internal proof-of-concept. Nevertheless, this initiative raises important discussions about AI’s evolving role in gaming—particularly given that Aloy is a player-controlled character. The integration of AI in such a manner may blur the boundaries between player agency and character autonomy, while also prompting broader conversations about the future of voice acting, storytelling, and game design careers.
Sony’s exploration of AI follows similar initiatives by Nvidia and Microsoft, both of which are working on AI-driven tools for NPC interactions and game development. With the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2025 on the horizon, Sony’s advancements in AI-powered game characters are likely to contribute significantly to the ongoing discussions about AI’s impact on the future of gaming.
