Embark Studios will more faithfully reflect actor Diana Gardner's facial features and performance in ARC Raiders' Celeste. Embark will apply full motion capture—including facial expressions—for the first time in the 'Frozen Trail' trailer releasing on October 6, and will update Celeste's in-game visual appearance to more closely resemble the actor with the October 8 update.
In ARC Raiders, players become 'Raiders' who explore the surface while operating out of the underground hub Speranza. Celeste is Speranza's unofficial leader who guides these Raiders and serves as a key quest-giving character. In 'Frozen Trail', alongside Shani, she tracks a signal leading to the new area Pendola Pass and provides an 'Outpost' hub for Raiders heading there.
Stefan Strandberg, Chief Creative Officer (CCO) at Embark Studios, stated in an official post on October 4 that Gardner has voiced Celeste since the early stages of development. However, he explained that the character's previously limited facial expressiveness made it difficult to fully convey the depth of the actor's performance and the weight of the story.
The new trailer captures Gardner's expressions and emotions in greater detail to map them onto Celeste's face. In-game, the studio plans to adjust the character to look more like Gardner in tandem with the 'Frozen Trail' update, allowing Gardner's voice and the character's face to align more naturally.
Because Celeste is a character who conveys exploration objectives and the narrative of Speranza to players, Embark aims to heighten immersion by ensuring that the emotions in her voice are also reflected in her facial expressions. Starting with this update, the company plans to bring other characters closer to their real-world actors in future updates.
