After nearly two years of negotiations on a new interactive media agreement with video game industry giants such as Activision, Electronic Arts, Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Co., video game industry performers have voted to strike starting Friday, July 26, 2024. At the heart of the negotiating issue revolves around artificial intelligence (“AI”) and performers’ fears that its unbridled use could provide an opportunity for game makers to replace them by training AI to imitate an actor’s voice or create a digital replica of their likeness without consent and without adequate compensation.(1)
This is the second strike by video game actors under the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Arts (“SAG-AFTRA”) and represents another work stoppage for the industry since last year’s two Hollywood strikes involving SAG-AFTRA for film and television actors and the Writers’ Guild of America (“WGA”). Audrey Cooling, spokeswoman for video game producers, who are parties to the Interactive Media Agreement (“IMA”), said in a statement on behalf of the game publishers that performers’ fears have been put to rest because video game producers and performers “have already found common ground on 24 of 25 proposals, including historic wage increases and additional safety provisions. Our offer … expands meaningful AI protections that include required consent and fair compensation for all performers working under the IMA.” (2) Unfortunately, this impasse leads to another waiting game that hopefully won’t last as long as the 2016 strike.
The key point, however, is how the IMA defines “performers.” The last IMA, negotiated in 2017, includes more than 2,500 “behind-the-camera (voiceover) performers, on-camera (motion capture, stunt) performers, stunt coordinators, singers, dancers, puppeteers and extras,” according to the union. At a press conference on Thursday, July 25,thRay Rodriguez, chief contracts officer for SAG-AFTRA, said the gaming industry has “bluntly told them that they do not necessarily consider everyone who performs physical performances to be a performer covered by the collective bargaining agreement.” Some of the physical performances are considered “data” rather than an actor’s performance.(3)
SAG-AFTRA Strikes: Hollywood Strike vs. Video Game Strike
Hollywood’s strike rules were far stricter than the guidelines for the video game actors’ strike. The guidelines actually exempt ongoing work on games that were already in development before September 2023, including Grand Theft Auto VI. In addition, game producers are allowed to sign provisional contracts with actors during the strike if they so wish. (4) Nevertheless, this moment will undoubtedly prove to be a turning point for the video game industry.
In contrast to the Hollywood strike, SAG-AFTRA also created a separate contract for independent and low-budget video game projects in February of this year. This tiered-budget contract for independent interactive media includes some of the protections for AI that the video game industry bargaining group had rejected.(5)
Similar to productions exempted from the Hollywood SAG-AFTRA strike, the union also announced a sub-agreement with AI voice company Replica Studios in January 2024 that would allow major studios to work with unionized actors to create and license a digital replica of their voice. (6) This sub-agreement also includes provisions giving performers the right to opt out of having their voices used by Replica Studios indefinitely.
The gaming world is a multi-billion dollar industry, and while AI may seem like a way to increase labor and cost efficiency, it could also lead to more workers sharing in the industry’s profits. Although video game producers are willing to implement protections for voice actors when it comes to AI, they have not agreed to go so far as to include other performers, including stunt workers and motion capture artists.(7) Motion capture artists are used to capture facial and body movements. Movements which are not necessarily directed by an assistant director, instead of taking facial shots Expressions. Performance actors, on the other hand, are used to capture both facial movements And expressions, and the latter are covered by the new SAG-AFTRA agreement.
SAG-AFTRA has expressed concerns that AI could deprive less experienced actors of the opportunity to land smaller supporting roles, such as non-player roles, where they typically do their due before landing the more coveted player roles. This was a similar issue raised by supporting actors in negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP last summer. Ultimately, AMPTP agreed to give SAG-AFTRA supporting actors their good faith consent and bargaining power when the studio used past performances to create AI-generated variations and replicas of their members’ looks or voices.
How long could this strike last?
The 2023 union strikes lasted about 5 months (about 4 for SAG-AFTRA and about 5 for the WGA) and caused significant financial setbacks to the industry, the repercussions of which are still being felt a year later. The last video game manufacturer strike took place in October 2016 and did not end until almost a year later.
However, given the current stalemate, which centers on the question of the appropriate use of AI tools such as voice cloning and motion capture technology, it is unlikely that the 98% of SAG-AFTRA Interactive Media members who voted for the strike will budge any time soon from their position that all Artists, not just voice artists, will receive appropriate economic and artistic protection under the new agreement.
Footnotes
(1) https://apnews.com/article/artificial-intelligence-sagaftra-ai-video-games-78cfef710817dcdcedc51378729a017c
(2) https://variety.com/2024/gaming/news/sag-aftra-video-game-strike-actors-union-1236085195/
(3) https://apnews.com/article/artificial-intelligence-sagaftra-ai-video-games-78cfef710817dcdcedc51378729a017c
(4) https://slate.com/technology/2024/07/video-games-sag-aftra-union-strike-ai-bots.html
(5) https://apnews.com/article/artificial-intelligence-sagaftra-ai-video-games-78cfef710817dcdcedc51378729a017c
(6) https://apnews.com/article/artificial-intelligence-sagaftra-ai-video-games-78cfef710817dcdcedc51378729a017c
(7) https://apnews.com/article/artificial-intelligence-sagaftra-videogame-voiceactors-ai-56c023dbe60ff3647ac878a877aeaacd
