UPDATE 3/12: Audrey Cooling, spokesperson for the video game producers party to the Interactive Media Agreement, has provided an update regarding the situation. The statement reads: “We have proposed a deal that includes wage increases of over 15% for SAG-AFTRA represented performers in video games, as well as enhanced health and safety protections, industry-leading terms of use for AI digital replicas in-game and additional compensation for the use of an actor’s performance in other games. We have made meaningful progress and are eager to return to the bargaining table to reach a deal.”

Summary

  • The SAG-AFTRA actors' strike will continue after a new proposal failed to satisfy the union’s concerns about the use of generative AI in video games.
  • Video game producers want to use past voice performances to train AI without permission or compensation for the actors involved.

The SAG-AFTRA actors' strike will continue after a new proposal failed to satisfy the union’s concerns about the use of generative AI in video games. The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists voted to go on strike last July after over a year and a half of negotiations with major game publishers like Activision and EA over issues like wage inflation and job security in the wake of generative AI and its potential to replace human artists.

SAG-AFTRA had previously sought action against the major game publishers in September 2023, just a few months after it decided to join the Writers Guild of America in its own protest against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Last January, SAG-AFTRA reached an agreement with the AI company Replica Studios to allow for AI recreations of famous actor voices, sparking heavy backlash from those concerned about such technology being abused. This discourse would ultimately lead to SAG-AFTRA calling a strike against the publishers in July after national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland warned that it was likely to go forward a few months beforehand.

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It doesn’t seem like the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike will end anytime soon, as the guild recently rejected a new proposal from the publishers. According to SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland and chair of the Interactive Media Negotiating Committee Sarah Elmaleh (via Eurogamer), this proposal was filled with “alarming loopholes” that would potentially leave guild members vulnerable to AI abuse. SAG-AFTRA reportedly made a counteroffer that addressed these loopholes. "The bargaining group would have you believe that we are close to reaching a deal,” one of the representatives stated. “This is not the case. They also are hoping our members will turn on each other."

SAG-AFTRA Strike Will Continue

Crabtree-Ireland and Elmaleh also claim that video game producers want to use past voice performances, including those from outside the proposed contract, to train AI without permission or compensation for the actors involved. Another claim states that producers wish to use AI replicas of striking actors during a future walkout and be allowed to refuse to tell the actors in question how their voices are being used. These employees are also reportedly seeking other performers that “they can exploit to fill those roles.”

The bargaining group would have you believe that we are close to reaching a deal. This is not the case. They also are hoping our members will turn on each other.

SAG-AFTRA currently has an interim agreement with the producers of over 160 games featuring the protections the guild wishes to implement across the gaming industry as a whole. Earlier this month, SAG-AFTRA actors like Marvel’s Spider-Man star Yuri Lowenthal held a strike picket outside of WB Games in Los Angeles, with the next protest scheduled for March 18 at Disney Character Voices in Burbank, California.