Video game actors are on strike. Here’s why

(LOS ANGELES) – Hollywood video game artists voted to strike Thursday after negotiations with gaming industry giants that began nearly two years ago broke down over artificial intelligence protections.

Leaders of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists have called the issues behind the labor dispute — and AI in particular — an existential crisis for artists. They say that game voice actors and motion capture artists’ images could be replicated by AI and used without their consent and without fair compensation.

The union claims that the unregulated use of AI poses “an equal or even greater threat” to artists in the video game industry than in film and television because the ability to create convincing digital replicas of artists’ voices cheaply and easy is widely available.

“We will not consent to a contract that allows companies to abuse AI to the detriment of our members. That’s enough. When these companies get serious about offering a deal our members can live – and work with – we will be here, ready to negotiate,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in a statement Wednesday.

Here are five things you should know about the strike, which begins at 12:01 a.m. on Friday:

Who is covered by the contract?

The deal covers more than 2,500 “off-camera voiceover artists, on-camera artists (motion capture, stunt doubles), stunt coordinators, singers, dancers, puppeteers and background artists,” according to SAG-AFTRA.

Which gaming companies are involved?

The union was negotiating with an industry bargaining group made up of signatory video game companies, including divisions of Activision and Electronic Arts. These companies are Activision Productions; Blind light; Disney character voices; Electronic arts; Productions Inc.; Formosa Interactive; Insomnia games; Take 2 Productions; VoiceWorks Productions; ad WB Games.

The gaming companies said they were negotiating in good faith and had reached tentative agreements “on the vast majority of proposals.”

See more information: The 10 best video games of 2023

This isn’t the first time video game actors have gone on strike

Wednesday’s labor action marks the second time SAG-AFTRA video game artists have gone on strike. The first work stoppage, in October 2016, began after more than a year of failed negotiations. The union and video game companies reached a tentative agreement 11 months later, in September 2017. At the time, the strike – which helped secure a bonus compensation structure for voice actors and performance capture artists – was the longest in the union’s history, following the merger of Hollywood’s two largest actors’ unions in 2012.

What are artists asking for?

SAG-AFTRA said some of the key issues include ensuring wages that keep up with inflation, protections around “exploitative uses” of artificial intelligence, and safety precautions that take into account the strain of physical performance as well as vocal stress. . Union negotiators told the Associated Press that they made gains in negotiating over wages and job security, but that game studios refused to “provide an equal level of protection against the dangers of AI to all of our members.”

The signatory companies refused to extend AI protections to on-camera performers, the union said.

“They’re saying we’ll protect the voice actors, but we won’t protect anyone else,” said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, executive director of SAG-AFTRA, in an interview last month. “The bottom line is if you have artists working for you, helping to create the content that’s in your game, whether it’s voice content, whether it’s stunt work, whether it’s motion work… all of those artists deserve to have the right to have informed consent and fair compensation for the use of your likeness, your likeness or voice, your performance. It’s that simple.”

AI is the critical point

While the rampant use of artificial intelligence has been an obstacle in negotiations, voice actors and union bargaining committee members have said they are not anti-AI. Artists are concerned, however, that the uncontrolled use of AI could provide game creators with a means of replacing them – by training an AI to replicate an actor’s voice or to create a digital replica of their likeness without consent. .

Some also argue that AI could also deprive less experienced actors of the chance to land smaller roles, such as non-player characters, where they typically start work before landing bigger roles. The uncontrolled use of AI, artists say, could also lead to ethical questions if their voices or images are used to create content that they don’t morally agree with.

SAG-AFTRA created a separate contract in February that covered independent and low-budget video game projects. The staggered-budget independent interactive media deal contains some of the AI ​​protections that the video game industry bargaining group rejected.

The union also announced a side deal with voice company AI Replica Studios in January that allows major studios to work with unionized actors to create and license a digital replica of their voice. It also establishes terms that allow artists to opt out of having their voices used in perpetuity.