Voice acting for indie games, simplified
Voiced dialogue makes a game feel alive, but recording dozens of characters is a big ask for a solo developer or a small team. AI video game voices let you prototype every line during development, hear how a quest flows, and then ship with polished AI voices or use them as a guide for human actors later.
Speechma gives you three ways to cast your characters:
- Text to Speech: 1,700+ ready-made voices in 75+ languages and locales, ideal for townsfolk, merchants, guards and announcers.
- Character-style AI voices: narrator, trailer, documentary, news and storyteller styles for intros, lore and cutscenes (up to 1,000 characters per clip).
- Voice Design: describe a voice that doesn’t exist yet, like “gravelly old dwarf blacksmith, gruff but kind,” and get a unique voice for your hero or villain.
How to voice game characters with AI
- Build a cast sheetList each character with age, personality, accent and a sample line. This becomes your casting guide and your Voice Design prompts.
- Cast the voicesPick stock voices for background NPCs and use Voice Design for main characters. Save stock picks as favorites so they stay consistent.
- Export lines in batchesGenerate one line per clip for barks and short dialogue, or a full paragraph for cutscenes. Use “download all” to grab them as a ZIP.
- Name files and importRename clips to match your dialogue IDs (for example “blacksmith_greet_01.mp3”) and import them into Unity, Godot, Unreal, GameMaker or RPG Maker.
Sample cast sheet with Voice Design prompts
Paste these descriptions into Voice Design, then type the sample line as the script.
| Character | Voice Design description | Sample line |
|---|---|---|
| Village elder | Elderly man, soft and raspy, wise, slow pace, warm tone | “The forest was not always this dark, child. Long ago, it sang.” |
| Space station AI | Calm female voice, precise, slightly robotic, neutral accent | “Warning. Oxygen levels in Sector Four are falling.” |
| Tough mercenary | Man in his forties, deep, gritty, sarcastic, American accent | “You want my help? It’ll cost you double.” |
| Cheerful shopkeeper | Young woman, bright and bubbly, fast talker, friendly | “Welcome, welcome! Potions are half off today!” |
| Final boss | Deep, menacing male voice, slow and theatrical, cold | “You came all this way… only to fail.” |
| Tutorial guide | Friendly young adult, encouraging, clear and upbeat | “Press jump to clear the gap. You’ve got this!” |
Voice Design and Voice Cloning support 10 languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
Types of game audio you can create
- NPC barks: short reactive lines like “Over there!”, “Need supplies?” and “Not again…” Generate a few variants so players don’t hear the same line every time.
- Quest dialogue: full conversations for RPGs and visual novels, one clip per line for easy branching.
- Opening narration: “Five hundred years after the Fall, the last city still stands.” The storyteller or trailer AI voice styles fit well here.
- Tutorial and UI voice: “Level complete,” “New item unlocked,” “Game saved.”
- Localized dialogue: voice Spanish, French, German, Japanese or Korean versions of key lines for international players.
- Sound design: pair dialogue with footsteps, spells and ambience from the Sound Effects Generator and a soundtrack from the AI Music Generator.
Why indie developers use Speechma
Fast prototyping
Hear your dialogue in-game the same day you write it.
Unique characters
Voice Design creates original voices from a written description, no recording needed.
Pitch and speed tweaks
Lower the pitch for giants, raise it for sprites, slow it for ancient beings.
Commercial use
Ship the audio in commercial games on Steam, itch.io, consoles or mobile, as long as you own your scripts.
Global releases
75+ languages and locales for text to speech.
Procedural dialogue
Generating thousands of lines? The Speechma API starts at $9/month.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use AI voices in a commercial game?
Yes. Commercial use of the generated audio is included, so you can ship it in paid games on any platform, as long as you own the rights to the dialogue text and any voice samples you use.
Is it free to make game character voices?
Yes. Text to speech is free with no account, up to 2,000 characters per conversion. Voice Design and Voice Cloning are also free.
How do I create a unique voice for my main character?
Use Voice Design. Describe age, gender, tone, accent and mood (for example, “young female ranger, confident, slightly husky, Irish accent”), add a script, and it creates a new voice.
What file format do I get for my game engine?
Text to speech clips download as MP3, which Unity, Godot, Unreal and most engines import. Convert to WAV or OGG in a free editor like Audacity if your pipeline needs it.
Can I make monster or robot voices?
Start with a deep or calm voice, adjust pitch and speed, then add effects like reverb or distortion in your audio editor. Voice Design prompts such as “slightly robotic” also help.
Can I clone a famous actor’s voice for my game?
No. Don’t clone real people without permission. Design an original voice instead, or clone a voice actor who has agreed in writing.
Can I use it for game trailers?
Yes. Try the trailer-style AI voice or see our movie trailer voice page for epic narration tips.
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