Key Takeaways
- SAG-AFTRA is striking against video game companies starting on Thursday.
- The core issue is pay and consent for performers involved in AI content.
- Negotiations have been active since October 2022.
SAG-AFTRA — the union best known for representing Hollywood performers — is moving ahead with a strike against some major players in the video game industry, starting at 12:01AM on July 26. At stake is compensation and consent for the use of performers’ voices and likenesses in AI content, which is likely to become increasingly common. The union has tackled similar issues in the movie and TV industries, and is looking to flex their power once again, this time targeting video game makers.
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The issue on the table
Negotiations with game companies have been ongoing since October 2022, and some agreements have reportedly been reached on other topics. SAG-AFTRA says, however, that companies have refused to “plainly affirm, in clear and enforceable language” that they’ll sign on to an AI-related agreement when it comes to hiring unionized talent. In fact, union members voted to authorize a strike with a 98.32% majority as far back as September 2023.
On the other side of the dispute are some of the gaming industry’s biggest players, including Activision Blizzard, EA, Disney, Take 2, and WB Games. Businesses like Activision have sometimes fought against unionization — looking to minimize labor spending as game budgets rise — but not always. Just this week, the Blizzard team working on World of Warcraft successfully formed a union with no resistance from management.
Why is AI such a big deal for video game performers?
The advent of generative AI may make it easier than ever for studios to exploit the images and voices of actors. A developer could, hypothetically, hire a voice actor to perform a script for a game, but then use AI to add lines they didn’t agree to record, or even insert their voice into a completely different title. In the same vein, image generation tech has advanced to the point that an actor’s face could be blended into characters they didn’t agree to play.
All of this is a concern with movies and TV shows as well, but gaming has typically had little in the way of union protection, and more temptation to use every new tool available. Many games have become incredibly complex, taking several years to go from start to finish, with the need to tweak them repeatedly for the best gameplay. AI is already used to solve many development problems on the fly, such as realistic terrain.
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