Technology 3 min read By Morgan Griffin
Voicemod Adds Star Wars and Marvel Sound Effects Under Disney License
The AI voice-changing platform Voicemod has received a Disney license and is adding audio clips from Star Wars, with Marvel characters to follow later.
Voicemod, an AI-powered voice-changing platform that lets users alter the timbre and sound of their voice and use sound effects, is adding Star Wars and Marvel characters to its library. On Friday the company said it is integrating soundboards from Lucasfilm and Marvel projects into its platform, which is used by 5.7 million users.
According to Deadline, Voicemod, a Spanish developer of soundboards and voice-changing technology, has received a license from Disney that allows it to offer audio clips of the franchises' characters to users. The first characters introduced on the platform are The Mandalorian and Grogu. Marvel characters are also set to be added later, the company said. The agreement covers audio materials specifically, meaning short voice fragments and sound effects, rather than full scenes or film recordings.
The deal comes amid growing demand for content creation tools among gamers and video creators. Voice effects and familiar sounds from major franchises allow users to voice game streams, short videos and other digital content without recording their own voice lines. For Disney, such a license is a way to spread recognition of its characters among an audience that actively creates content, while at the same time controlling how its voices and sounds are used.
The choice of these particular franchises also has a cultural context. Recently, the game Star Wars: Galactic Racer, released in October, introduced a new character, Biddi Blas, voiced by British wrestling star Charlie Crowder. The game belongs to the fast-paced science fiction racing genre, where players race across planets in various spacecraft and compete in the Galactic League, an unofficial underground circuit financed by syndicates. In the storyline, Biddi Blas is one of the contenders for victory, and in one cutscene he tries to intimidate the player in his native language, saying the phrase "scrib doon," which sounds like a crude version of "write this down." It quickly became a meme, and the fan community created a large number of jokes, collages and parodies featuring him, including transplanting the character into other franchises.
Fans have also begun imagining Biddi Blas within Star Wars canon, including in scenes where he attains the rank of master and a seat on the Jedi council, or learns about the tragedy of Darth Plagueis. Some of the audience considers him the series' main meme hero, while others, by their own account, are ready to "throw him into a sarlacc pit" because of his constant presence in the feeds. Although the Voicemod audio clips are not directly related to this game, they demonstrate how actively audiences use the recognizable voices and phrases of characters in everyday online communication.
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