Hollywood video game performers have reportedly gone on strike, effective immediately after negotiations for a new contract with major game studios collapsed over concerns about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in game development.
According to a report by the news agency AP, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists ( SAG-AFTRA ) has announced the strike, marking the second work stoppage for video game voice actors and motion capture performers.
The union and game companies have been in negotiations for nearly two years over a new interactive media agreement.
AI concerns worrying Hollywood video game performers
While progress has been made on wages and job safety, the two sides remain at a deadlock over the regulation of generative AI.
SAG-AFTRA contends that without strict guidelines, game companies could utilise AI to replicate actors' voices or create digital likenesses without consent or fair compensation.
The strike will impact major game studios including divisions of Activision, Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Co.
What SAG-AFTRA said about the strike
At a news conference, SAG-AFTRA Chief Contracts Officer Ray Rodriguez said to reporters: “The industry has told us point blank that they do not necessarily consider everyone who is rendering movement performance to be a performer that is covered by the collective bargaining agreement. We strike as a matter of last resort. We have given this process absolutely as much time as we responsibly can. We have exhausted the other possibilities, and that is why we’re doing it now.”
He also noted that the companies are treating some physical performances as “data.”
Another game actor and member of the union’s negotiating committee, Andi Norris said that the offer put forward by the game companies will still put those who do stunt work or creature performances at risk.
Norris said: “The performers who bring their body of work to these games create a whole variety of characters, and all of that work must be covered. Their proposal would carve out anything that doesn’t look and sound identical to me as I sit here, when, in truth, on any given week I am a zombie, I am a soldier, I am a zombie soldier. We cannot and will not accept that a stunt or movement performer giving a full performance on stage next to a voice actor isn’t a performer.”
According to a report by the news agency AP, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists ( SAG-AFTRA ) has announced the strike, marking the second work stoppage for video game voice actors and motion capture performers.
The union and game companies have been in negotiations for nearly two years over a new interactive media agreement.
AI concerns worrying Hollywood video game performers
While progress has been made on wages and job safety, the two sides remain at a deadlock over the regulation of generative AI.
SAG-AFTRA contends that without strict guidelines, game companies could utilise AI to replicate actors' voices or create digital likenesses without consent or fair compensation.
The strike will impact major game studios including divisions of Activision, Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Co.
What SAG-AFTRA said about the strike
At a news conference, SAG-AFTRA Chief Contracts Officer Ray Rodriguez said to reporters: “The industry has told us point blank that they do not necessarily consider everyone who is rendering movement performance to be a performer that is covered by the collective bargaining agreement. We strike as a matter of last resort. We have given this process absolutely as much time as we responsibly can. We have exhausted the other possibilities, and that is why we’re doing it now.”
He also noted that the companies are treating some physical performances as “data.”
Another game actor and member of the union’s negotiating committee, Andi Norris said that the offer put forward by the game companies will still put those who do stunt work or creature performances at risk.
Norris said: “The performers who bring their body of work to these games create a whole variety of characters, and all of that work must be covered. Their proposal would carve out anything that doesn’t look and sound identical to me as I sit here, when, in truth, on any given week I am a zombie, I am a soldier, I am a zombie soldier. We cannot and will not accept that a stunt or movement performer giving a full performance on stage next to a voice actor isn’t a performer.”
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