It was a scene that evoked a feeling of déjà vu: a line of artists carrying SAG-AFTRA signs, running in circles under the scorching Burbank summer sun.

This time, however, the group wasn’t made up of film and TV actors calling on studios to give in on a range of demands like higher compensation in the streaming era and more comprehensive protections for AI, as they did during the 2023 actors’ strike. (There were still some film and TV actors in attendance, though.) A year later, video game actors from the same union, SAG-AFTRA, demonstrated outside the Disney Character Voices building in Burbank as the union remains locked in a standoff with major gaming companies over an issue one cast member called “existential”: AI.

Thursday’s event was the second picket organized by SAG-AFTRA after the union called a strike against video game companies on July 25. The artists first demonstrated outside Warner Bros. Games on August 1 before setting up their booth just over a mile away outside the Disney building two weeks later. (In addition to Disney Character Voices and Warner Bros. Games, the union is currently striking Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts and Insomniac Games, among others.)

“Our members rightly believe that if we don’t have the right (AI) protections in this contract, their ability to earn a living in this business may be at risk over the life of this contract,” said the union’s national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. “This is not something we can wait for.”

Amidst the tumult of Disney protesters, signs reading “Game over” and “Time to burninate AI” were visible. Sarah Elmaleh (God of War Ragnarok, Halo Infinite), the chair of the union’s negotiating committee, said of the agreement: “We went into these negotiations knowing that this was an existential issue and that we could not reach an agreement without this issue.” She adds that when the strike was called, “we finally felt like we had done everything in our power” to reach an agreement.

According to SAG-AFTRA negotiators, video game companies only agreed to partial but “dangerously incomplete” AI proposals in the parties’ last round of formal negotiations, which would have put stunt and motion artists at particular risk if those proposals were implemented. A spokesperson for the video game companies countered that their offer was “a direct response to SAG-AFTRA’s concerns” and would “provide significant AI protections that include the required consent and fair compensation of all artists working under the IMA, the Interactive Media Agreement.” The spokesperson called this contract language “some of the strongest in the entertainment industry.”

SAG-AFTRA disagreed, and although union negotiators have had some “informal discussions” with the companies since the strike began on July 26, no real progress has been made in breaking the impasse.

The mood at Thursday’s picket was upbeat and relaxed, with loud music playing and a drummer playing for the picket lines across Olive Avenue. In addition to the SAG-AFTRA artists, members of the American Federation of Musicians, the crew union IATSE and the Writers Guild of America were also present at Thursday’s picket. Burbank City Council member Konstantine Anthony (himself a member of SAG-AFTRA) and Writers Guild of America West board member Adam Conover were seen in the crowd.

This relaxed atmosphere belied the high stakes that the actors spoke of in conversation. Stunt and motion capture actor Jasiri Booker (Spider Man 2) called the possibilities presented by AI “scary.” He said, “If we just give (companies) an unprecedented amount of our data, and not just any data, but really good data, they can use our movement to do new things over and over again… That could potentially mean the end of this industry, at least for the people who work in it.” Booker hoped the strike would end with the union “setting some kind of standard or at least getting a foot in the door to continue these conversations.”

Stunt and performance capture colleague Seth Allyn Austin (The Last of Us Parts one and two) said that video games motivated his career because as a young person he was fascinated by the movements of the characters in Mortal Kombat, Spider Man And Super MarioHe hopes his work will encourage the next generation of video game performers. “The fact that that could be taken away because it’s cheaper to have a generative AI create my performance based on data that I may have trained it on is an insult. Plus, it kind of spoils the joy for future generations of performers,” he said.

SAG-AFTRA performers can continue to work on video games if the companies sign the union’s Tiered-Budget Independent Interactive Media Agreement or Interim Interactive Media Agreement, which contain the AI ​​terms the union seeks with major companies.

At one point during Thursday’s picket line, dancing broke out as the rapper VIC’s “Wobble” blared from the speakers. Crabtree-Ireland gestured toward the crowd and said, “As you can see from the participation of the members here, there is no lack of passion. There is no lack of commitment. And we will continue to fight this fight until we have the necessary protections in the video game contract.”

And how does he hope the community will remember him years from now, long after the SAG-AFTRA video game strike of 2024 is over? “Well, I hope we say it was brief,” he said.