FakeEnema

The only thing I want to point out is that it's not just a cost-cutting issue; it's a logistics issue. Integrating voice acting into a game takes months, for each new set of voice lines you want to record- from getting lines finalized, to formatting them to be ready for actors, to scheduling the recording sessions (which usually involves finding a time when all the actors are available and traveling to a centralized location), to doing the recordings, to then editing and cleaning them up, and then finally getting them implemented in game. Whereas game development is inherently a very iterative process, and requires rapid testing and then adjustment to gameplay, but the logistics of voice recording does not jive with that. You can't just change your design as soon as you identify gameplay problems because you need to plan for the VO, or you may have already recorded VO for the previous design and now it's incompatible. It's a mess, and one of the reasons AAA games are such a cumbersome development nightmare.