American video game actors affiliated with the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) will go on strike starting Friday midnight, Los Angeles time. Protection against artificial intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the negotiations.
“We will not accept a contract that allows companies to abuse AI to the detriment of our members,” union president Fran Drescher said in a statement announcing the strike. “When these companies seriously consider offering a deal that our members can live — and work — under, we will be there, ready to negotiate,” she added. As of September 2023, union members had approved a strike in the video game industry by more than 98%.
Video game companies cannot employ SAG-AFTRA member actors in their projects without agreeing to the union’s terms.
Negotiations with industry players including Disney, Activision, Electronic Arts, Insomniac Games And WB Games, have been going on for 18 months and “have shown us that our employers are not interested in fair and reasonable protection against AI, but rather in blatant exploitation,” said Sarah Elmaleh, chair of the negotiating committee for the Interactive Media Agreement, at the center of the current negotiations, in a statement.
In a written statement provided to the Dutythe spokesperson for the video game producers on this file, Audrey Cooling, says she is “disappointed that the union has chosen to walk away when we are so close to an agreement, and that we remain ready to resume negotiations.” According to her, the parties have already “found common ground on 24 of the 25 proposals,” and the terms offer “significant protections in terms of AI” while being “among the best in the entertainment industry.”
But it is precisely this last proposal that poses a problem for SAG-AFTRA, which states in its press release that “although agreements have been reached on many important issues […]employers refuse to clearly state, in plain and enforceable language, that they will protect all actors covered by the contract in their AI language system.”
The union is demanding, among other things, greater transparency regarding the use of AI in video game projects and better compensation. Hollywood actors affiliated with SAG-AFTRA had gone on strike for similar reasons in July 2023. An agreement was reached four months later, in November of the same year.