Video game actors are striking for the first time since 2017 after months of negotiating with Activision, Epic Games and other major publishers and studios over higher pay, better safety measures and protection from new generative AI technologies. They will strike a year after Hollywood actors and writers ended their own historic strikes, in an escalation that could have major consequences for the development and marketing of some of the industry’s biggest games.
Members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) voted to strike last fall, citing the unwillingness of major game companies to guarantee actors rights over how their work is used in training AI or creating AI-generated copies. Around 2,600 voice actors and motion capture artists, including talent like Troy Baker of The last of usJennifer Hale from Mass effectand Matt Mercer from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomhave been working without an Interactive Media Agreement since November 2022. The strike begins on July 26 at 00:01
“The video game industry generates billions in profits annually. The driving force behind that success is the creative people who design and develop those games,” said lead negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland in a statement. “That includes the SAG-AFTRA members who bring memorable and beloved game characters to life, and they deserve and demand the same basic protections as performers in film, television, streaming, and music: fair compensation and the right to informed consent to AI use of their faces, voices, and bodies. Frankly, it’s astonishing that these video game studios have not learned from the lessons of the past year – that our members can and will stand up and demand fair and equitable treatment when it comes to AI, and the public supports us in doing so.”
Read more: Video game voice actors are ready to strike over AI. Here’s why
“We are disappointed that the union has decided to walk out when we are so close to reaching an agreement, and we remain ready to resume negotiations,” said Audrey Cooling, spokeswoman for the companies involved in the Interactive Media Agreement, in an emailed statement. “We have already found common ground on 24 of 25 proposals, including historic wage increases and additional safety provisions. Our offer is a direct response to SAG-AFTRA’s concerns and expands on AI’s meaningful protections, which include required consent and fair compensation for all performers working under the IMA. These terms are among the most stringent in the entertainment industry.”
While games due to be released this fall, such as Dragon Age: The Veilguardwho is recently revealed voice cast includes several guild members who have likely already completed their voice and motion capture work. The strike means that SAG-AFTRA members will be unavailable for projects that are years away and won’t be there to accommodate possible last-minute rewrites for things that are close to release. Games have historically been much less reliant on the actors’ performances, but most popular franchises are now fully voiced, with the biggest-budget productions using motion capture to translate the actors’ real-life performances into the game frame-for-frame.
The last time video game actors appeared Strike in 2016was mainly about pay and lasted a full year. It is unclear whether the strike will end sooner this time. Unlike the issue of higher pay, those involved in the current negotiations say the lack of AI protection poses an existential threat to actors and their creative output. Just this week Wired reported that companies like Activision Blizzard and Riot Games are moving forward with the use of generative AI tools to create concept art and possibly even assets that would make it into finished games, like Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3.
“Eighteen months of negotiations have shown us that our employers are not interested in fair, adequate AI protections, but rather blatant exploitation,” said bargaining committee chair Sarah Elmaleh in a statement. “We reject this paradigm – we will not leave any of our members behind, nor will we wait any longer for adequate protections. We look forward to working with Teams on our interim and independent contracts that provide transparency, consent and compensation for all performers around AI, and to continuing to negotiate in good faith with this bargaining group when they are ready to join us in the world we all deserve.”
SAG-AFTRA’s Video Game Voice Actors will host a panel with Ashly Burch (Horizon Forbidden West), Noshir Dala (Red Dead Redemption 2) and others at the San Diego Comicon later this week on July 26.
Update 07/25/2024, 3:42 PM ET: Added a statement from the game companies.
