Imagine playing a new adventure in The Witcher 3 and hearing Geralt speak with the same familiar voice he had back in 2015. For Polish players, that continuity matters. Jacek Rozenek is returning for Songs of the Past, and CD Projekt Red has found an unusual way to bring his new performance closer to the original recordings.
The studio has partnered with Ukrainian voice technology company Respeecher to adjust the actor’s voice with his approval. Rather than replacing him, the approach aims to preserve the sound players remember while keeping the original performer involved in Geralt’s latest adventure.
Jacek Rozenek faces a unique challenge in The Witcher 3’s new expansion
Songs of the Past was announced in May 2026 and is planned for release in 2027. However, bringing Geralt back more than a decade after The Witcher 3 presents a challenge that goes beyond writing new dialogue.
The expansion includes conversations, reactions, battle cries and short lines that can also appear in existing areas of the original game. Consequently, players could hear recordings made years apart during the same adventure.
According to Game File’s interviews with the actor and development team, CD Projekt Red invited Jacek Rozenek to its studio about a year ago to evaluate his current voice. Localization producer Mikołaj Szwed explained that it had become lower and gruffer.
That change followed a difficult period in the actor’s life. Jacek Rozenek suffered a stroke in 2019 and could not speak for months. He subsequently worked extensively on his recovery, including daily voice training lasting six or seven hours.
The challenge was not whether Rozenek could return to Geralt, but how to make recordings from different periods sound consistent.
Jacek Rozenek has been Geralt’s Polish voice since the beginning
For longtime fans, Jacek Rozenek represents an important part of the series’ identity. His performance has accompanied Geralt throughout the franchise, including its most successful installment.
- Beginning of the series: Rozenek became Geralt of Rivia’s Polish voice actor when The Witcher franchise began.
- 2014: He recorded approximately 10,000 dialogue lines for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which has since sold more than 65 million copies.
- 2015: Hearts of Stone, the game’s first major expansion, brought him back as Geralt.
- 2016: Blood and Wine kept him in the role for one more expansion.
- 2019: He experienced a stroke that temporarily affected his ability to speak.
- 2021: During his recovery, he recorded several lines for a quest included in the next-generation update released in 2022.
- 2027: His performance will return in Songs of the Past, with approved voice adjustments intended to match earlier recordings.
His return also arrives during renewed interest in additional Witcher 3 adventures. Recently, the fan-made Annals of the Duchy expansion brought players back to Toussaint with human voice performances. That unofficial project takes a different approach, using actors without AI-generated character voices.
Respeecher helps preserve the original performance rather than replace it
CD Projekt Red chose Respeecher after previously working with the Ukrainian company on Cyberpunk 2077. In that earlier collaboration, voice technology helped preserve a character’s voice following the death of the original actor.
For Songs of the Past, the goal is different. Rozenek remains involved, while the technology helps his current performance resemble the voice heard in The Witcher 3 more than a decade ago.
Several details explain how the process worked and where its limits are:
- Actor approval: Rozenek gave his consent before the studio used AI voice technology.
- Original material: CD Projekt Red supplied Respeecher with the actor’s recorded dialogue from The Witcher 3.
- Model training: Those earlier performances provided the reference material for the voice model.
- Creative objective: The team wanted Geralt to retain the lively, rich and younger vocal quality associated with the original game.
- Practical application: The adjustments help new dialogue, combat reactions and brief vocal responses fit alongside older recordings.
- Consent requirements: Szwed explained that CD Projekt Red’s contracts require permission for AI-related work.
- Limited use: According to Szwed, the studio only used it here because of the actor’s health and considers it a special case.
- English version: Doug Cockle recorded his dialogue without AI voice retouching.
The approach is meant to adjust the voice of Rozenek, not to replace him with a fully synthetic performance.
The real difference is how old and new dialogue will fit together
Voice consistency might sound like a minor production detail, but it can make a noticeable difference in a story-driven RPG. Geralt’s short responses are part of his personality, just as much as longer conversations.
Consider what happens when a newly recorded battle cry plays immediately after dialogue from the original campaign. Even if both performances are convincing, a sudden change in vocal tone could make their different recording periods obvious.
That is the specific problem CD Projekt Red wants to address. Instead of making Geralt sound completely different, the team is attempting to maintain the character’s established identity across both sets of recordings.
Jacek Rozenek has expressed confidence in the developers and supports the effort to bring his voice closer to how it sounded roughly 12 years ago. Meanwhile, the studio’s explanation places consent and the performer’s circumstances at the center of this decision.
This distinction matters because voice restoration and replacing an actor are not the same creative choice. Here, the original performer remains part of the production, and technology is being used to reduce a specific difference between recordings.
Songs of the Past arrives before the next major Witcher adventure
The timing gives this expansion an interesting place in CD Projekt Red’s plans. Songs of the Past is scheduled for 2027, while The Witcher 4 is planned for 2028.
Interest in the franchise remains strong. In fact, The Witcher 4 won Most Wanted Game at the Golden Joystick Awards 2026, highlighting anticipation for the series’ next major installment.
However, Songs of the Past has a different responsibility. It must introduce new material while remaining convincing beside a game released in 2015. That makes its approach to voice acting especially relevant for players returning to Geralt’s existing adventures.
For now, the most encouraging part of the return of Jacek Rozenek is that the actor remains central to the character he helped define. Whether the finished dialogue sounds seamless will ultimately be for players to judge when Songs of the Past arrives in 2027.
Creator of the website, Pokemon trainer by nature. Trying to report on everything related to the world of video games, series and movies. Yu-Gi-Oh is my weakness, collecting cards since the dawn of time.
