Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 developer Warhorse Studios has allegedly fired its in-house voice-over director and Czech to English translator and editor, Max Hejtmánek, suddenly, and without warning, after telling him that his role was made "obsolete in favor of using AI for all translations going forward."
Hejtmánek shared his story on the Kingdom Come Reddit page, saying he joined Warhorse Studios back in 2022 and has primarily worked on Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and its DLCs. He describes the firing as something that came "with no forewarning" and says he was in the middle of a project when he was let go.
"March 27, 2026, with no forewarning, I was invited to a meeting and promptly that, in an effort to 'make the company more effective' and 'save finances,' as of next month, my position at the company would become 'obsolete' in favour of using AI for all translations going forward," Hejtmánek wrote. "This came as a huge shock to me, as though the discussion about using AI for translating had frequently come up in the past, something I was always strongly and vocally against, but never to the extent that it might actually cost me my job in the future. It had, of course, crossed my mind many times, but I naively thought my work at WHS was valued enough that I might not be at immediate risk."
Hejtmánek goes on to say that he feels "incredibly betrayed by the mangement" and is "heartbroken" to be leaving a team and colleagues he worked with every day.
In response, when asked to comment on the situation, Warhorse Studios told Kotaku in a statement that "Warhorse Studios has always been a talent-driven studio, and we deeply value the people who shape our work. Out of respect for the privacy and dignity of both current and former colleagues, we will not discuss individual situations publicly."
Hejtmánek added that his comment was not meant to cause a wave of backlash towards Warhorse Studios by way of review bombing its games or harassment towards the developers, reiterating that all they want "is for people to be more informed about what's going on" within the video game industry "behind closed doors."
AI, and more specifically, Generative AI (GenAI) tools, and their place in video games (or lack thereof) has been a hotly contested topic in recent years. It's consistently been a point of controversy when developers are caught having used GenAI without disclosing it to players, including one case that impacted The Alters, which did include developer 11 Bit Studios admitting to using GenAI for translations.
Mistakes in the translations was one of the ways players were tipped off that the studio had used GenAI, though 11 Bit maintained that it only used the tech as a placeholder while it sorted getting professional translations done by a human team.
It's also worth noting that Warhorse Studios' founder, Daniel Vávra, was someone who stood up in defense of Larian Studios following the wave of backlash it received when it admitted to experimenting with GenAI tools.
In the GDC State of the Game Industry Report 2026, a majority of respondents said their studio was using GenAI tools, with more studios using the technology and writing new policies for how it is to be used. That said, a majority of respondents also said they believe GenAI is having a negative impact on the video game industry.
As far as we're aware, Warhorse Studios did not use GenAI tools to create Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 or any of its DLCs, though last year, on the topic of GenAI, Vávra did say, "AI is here to stay with us. As frightening as it may be, that's the way it is."
"If AI can help me make an epic game in a year with a smaller team like in the old days, I'm all for it. That game will still have an art director, writers, programmers, graphic designers, but they won't have to do the tiresome and boring tasks, they'll have to focus on the essentials. I have ideas for lots of games, but I'm fifty years old and so far it's taken me seven years on average to make one game. If AI helps me realize those ideas faster, I'm all for it."
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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