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What just happened? When last year's SAG-AFTRA strike produced guarantees that Hollywood actors would be informed and compensated if studios used generative AI on their voices and likenesses, the agreement didn't cover performers working in video games. Voice actors are now striking to receive similar protections from game publishers.
Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) performers who work on video games began striking on Friday after negotiations with publishers over the use of generative AI broke down. The move follows last year's successful television and movie actors' strike and a recent game developer unionization wave.
The emergence of AI-assisted voice manipulation sparked concerns among actors that companies could reproduce their voices without the actors' knowledge, consent, or compensation. Some reported being coerced into signing contracts allowing AI reproductions of their voices.
Actors still trying to break into the industry face the greatest threat from AI, which was a main factor behind the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. While film and television actors won protections regarding AI and other emerging technologies after several months of striking, voice actors are arguably more vulnerable due to being less famous.
The new strike follows a year and a half of negotiations with a game publisher bargaining group that includes Activision, Disney, Electronic Arts, and Warner Bros. The union voted almost unanimously to authorize a strike last September, but discussions since haven't yielded an agreement to the organization's liking.
In the meantime, the union offers interim contracts with AI-related protections for developers wishing to hire unionized actors. Furthermore, striking actors can work on non-gaming media like TV shows, movies, audio recordings, small-budget productions, and more. The SAG-AFTRA website hosts a search engine where users can check which games are impacted.
Game development employees have unionized at an increased pace in recent years. The past week saw two union recognitions encompassing hundreds of Microsoft employees.
Most of the 241 people working at Bethesda Game Studios recently requested union representation, which Microsoft recognized, thereby forming the tech giant's first wall-to-wall union. Microsoft then allowed over 500 employees working on World of Warcraft for Blizzard to unionize a few days later. The drive follows a successful organized labor drive from over 1,000 Activision Blizzard employees in 2022, shortly before Microsoft acquired the publisher for a record $69 billion.