Guy Mowbray's Voice Gets An AI Clone For EA Sports FC 26

Match of the Day football commentator Guy Mowbray has revealed he gave EA permission to create an AI voice clone of himself to assist with some of the more onerous aspects of recording commentary for EA Sports FC. I see this as a way to streamline the recording process for the thousands of player names in the game.

Mowbray shared the news as part of a BBC feature exploring how EA Sports FC's commentaries are made, explaining that these days, recording or preparing for the game is a "part of my weekly routine", taking up "pretty much every week from November all the way through to the start of July."

The motivation behind this decision is the sheer volume of work involved in the game's commentary.

"It takes so long because for every single facet of the game that you could think of, we have to cover every scenario. It is so in-depth because it has got to feel and sound real - the whole point of the game is its authenticity.”

Read also a recent review of EA Sports FC 26, which noted that the game returns with noticeable improvements in on-pitch gameplay, offering crisper passing, sticky dribbling, and smarter goalkeeper positioning.

One of the most repetitive elements of the recording process is reading out the name of every player in the game. Each name must be recorded several times, in different intonations, to fit within the wider commentary, and EA Sports FC features "more than 20,000 real male and female footballers". As such, EA now uses AI to replicate Mowbray's voice - with his permission - to "help" with this aspect of recording. I do believe this technology is a tool to be used in collaboration with talent, not as a replacement.

EA has been transparent about its use of AI in game development. "AI has long been part of our development pipeline, from animation to gameplay systems," EA told the BBC, "and continues to support our teams in making better, more responsive football experiences. But when it comes to commentary and content, it's always a collaboration with our talent - not a replacement." The use of generative AI remains a topic of debate, particularly in the realm of voice acting. Last year, the US voice actors union SAG-AFTRA ended a lengthy strike after securing "safety guardrails" around AI, with one of the key requirements being that companies pay actors on an equivalent basis for digitally replicated voices.

The history of video game commentary dates back to games like Actua Soccer on the Sony PlayStation in 1995. The process then was primitive compared to today's standards. Commentator Barry Davies, in a 2020 interview with BBC Sport, explained the initial challenges. "I told them you cannot use the same way of identifying the player every time he touches the ball - it has got to be at different levels depending where he is on the pitch, as I would do when commentating normally." This meant recording multiple versions of each player's name with varying emphasis. The number of players in Actua Soccer was 704, a fraction of the 20,000-plus in EA Sports FC.

The evolution of in-game commentary reflects the broader advancements in gaming technology. EA FC 26, for example, uses an AI algorithm to mimic the real-world movements of individual players. The commentary aims for a similar level of realism, with back-and-forth chats and interruptions between commentators Guy Mowbray and Sue Smith, just as you would hear in a live broadcast.

"With the more chatty, in-game stuff, sometimes I am bouncing off what Guy is saying,"

— Smith said.

"He doesn't have to be recording it at the same time as me, but they can play his line to me so I can come in off the back of it, so my levels are the same as his - and vice-versa."

Mowbray himself finds it strange to play the game with his own commentary on.

"What I can't do now, though, is have my commentary on."

— he said.

"Like everyone else who plays it, when I hear the commentator tell me I have done something wrong, I think to myself, 'oh get lost!' but with me commentating, I would literally be telling myself where to go!"