Representatives for SAG-AFTRA announced recently that they will continue their efforts to strike following a walkout over disagreements between the union and the bargaining group that represents various video game companies like Activision, Blindlight, Disney Character Voices, EA, Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, Llama Productions, Take-Two and WB Games.
For the past nine months, voice and motion-capture actors involved with the labor union SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) have been on strike following a breakdown in talks between the union and the bargaining group regarding the Interactive Media Agreement. The agreement itself, according to SAG-AFTRA, covers: “interactive or video game programs where the viewer or user can manipulate, affect, or otherwise alter, on a real time basis, the sequence or presentation of the program.” This agreement expired in 2022 and was being renewed on a monthly basis by SAG-AFTRA while it negotiated for a new contract. In September 2023, SAG-AFTRA’s National Board voted unanimously to send a strike authorization vote to its members, which was passed unanimously as well. The strike began on July 25, 2023, on behalf of approximately 2,600 actors doing voice-over, motion-capture and other work in the gaming industry.
The key issue the union is concerned with is the use of Generative AI (artificial intelligence) in video game productions, which it fears will be used to replace performers with artificial versions of themselves. According to a statement from SAG-AFTRA’s website: “Our members’ work and likenesses are being exploited by artificial intelligence, and video game companies have refused to plainly affirm, in clear and enforceable language, that they will protect all performers covered by this contract in their A.I. language.”
These fears over the growing use of AI by business leaders in the gaming industry to cut expenses are not unfounded either. According to Bernard Marr writing for Forbes, Generative AI can be used to synthesize an actor’s voice and expand on it to train models: “Developers can utilize AI to create diverse and realistic voice overs for characters…Generative AI provides the means to modify voice recordings easily, thus creating a diverse range of voices for characters with limited resources.” Incentivized by the prospect of streamlining the approach to making games, some developers have seized upon this opportunity to replace the labor provided by creatives with Generative AI as seen at this year’s GDC (Game Developers Conference) held in San Francisco earlier this March, where the topic of Generative AI was commonplace.
One voice actor, Samantha Béart, famous for portraying the character of Karlach in the award-winning “Baldur’s Gate 3”, helped voice the fears of those participating in the strike in an interview with GamesRadar’s Anna Koselke. In her interview, Béart stressed: “‘Essentially, [CEOs pushing AI] just want to save money…In the long term, it’ll destroy their reputation, their company, everything.’ As for actors, Béart doesn’t see a world in which they’ll willingly back down despite game companies’ increasing demands for AI – after all, it would effectively cost them their jobs.”
Even those performers not part of SAG-AFTRA have chosen to withhold their labor as a sign of fellowship with the strikers. However, some actors have been unfortunately replaced because of this, such as with what happened to Emeri Chase and Nicholas Thurkettle, known for their work on “Zenless Zone Zero,” where they voice Soldier 11 and Lycaon, respectively. The two actors received the notice that they were being replaced at the same time as fans did, with the recent update to the game on March 11.
That same day, it seemed as though the strike was coming to an end, as a spokesperson for the bargaining group attested. Quoting Audrey Cooling, the spokesperson in question, Eurogamer’s Ed Nightingale wrote: “‘We have proposed a deal that includes wage increases of over 15 percent 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,’ wrote Audrey Cooling…We have made meaningful progress and are eager to return to the bargaining table to reach a deal.” The union’s statement, put out the same day, backed up this claim of recent cooperation between SAG-AFTRA and the bargaining group, but strongly insisted there were “dangerous loopholes” included in recent proposals that could allow performers to be exploited using Generative AI.
In their press release, the union states: “Though progress has been made and agreements have been reached on certain provisions…the last proposal the bargaining group made is still filled with alarming loopholes that will leave our members vulnerable to A.I. abuse. The union recently submitted a counter to this proposal that diligently addresses all of the loopholes and would result in a contract that offers the minimum protections our members need in order to maintain sustainable careers as video game performers.”
Aside from the ongoing dispute between the bargaining group and SAG-AFTRA, the union has seen success with agreements reached with more than 160 game productions. In the eyes of the strikers, it is seen as frustrating that the bargaining group cannot agree to the same terms that much smaller game companies have agreed to.
Until the bargaining group offers explicitly written protections against the use of Generative AI to effectively replace performers, the strike is unlikely to end anytime soon.
Kelly Baker is an alumnus of West Chester University of Pennsylvania.