SAG-AFTRA Suspends Video Game Actors Strike

After nearly a year of a strike, the SAG-AFTRA, a union representing performing talents in the United States, has suspended its strike against major game companies. The union announced a provisional agreement that reportedly delivers "historic wage increases" and "industry-leading AI provisions."

The strike, which began last summer, aimed primarily at obtaining "critical AI protections," better wages, and working conditions. At the time, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, national executive director of SAG-AFTRA, stated that video game actors "deserve and demand the same fundamental protections as artists in film, television, streaming, and music: fair compensation and the right to informed consent for the use of their faces, voices, and bodies by AI."

Generative AI has been a topic of intense debate in the gaming industry. Several prominent actors, including Samantha Béart from Baldur's Gate 3, Elias Toufexis from Starfield, Jennifer Hale from Mass Effect, and many others, have spoken out against companies' intentions to replace human talent with emerging technology. In contrast, gaming industry executives have shown an optimistic stance towards the use of generative AI in game development for years, which for many meant an intention to reduce costs with personnel. Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two, was one of the few to publicly acknowledge that games are created thanks to the "creative genius" of real humans.

The provisional agreement was reached earlier this week with the signatory companies of the IMA (Interactive Media Agreement), which include Disney Character Voices, Activision Productions, Electronic Arts Productions, Insomniac Games, Take 2 Productions, WB Games, as well as other external production companies that provide motion capture services (mocap) for studios like Ubisoft.

The SAG-AFTRA clarified that the strike is only suspended, not ended, as members still need to approve the provisional agreement. If approved, the details of the agreement will be disclosed and sent for ratification by the union's membership base, as per established policy. As a result of the suspension, all SAG-AFTRA members have been instructed to return to work on productions under the IMA, including promotional or advertising activities for projects produced under the same agreement.