Summary
- SAG-AFTRA has reached a tentative agreement with major publishers, potentially ending a 10-month strike.
- The deal includes AI guardrails to protect performers, though this is awaiting board review and union ratification.
SAG-AFTRA has reached a tentative agreement with some of the gaming industry’s biggest publishers after 10 months of striking. On July 26, 2024, the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists voted to go on strike following about a year and a half of negotiations with publishers like Electronic Arts and Activision over a variety of issues like wage inflation and the possibility of generative AI replacing human voice actors in the future. This came not too long after the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers of 2023, which was focused on similar issues.
A few months ago, SAG-AFTRA rejected a proposal from publishers that would have reportedly allowed them to use records of voice actors to train AI, something that drew even further controversy after Epic Games used the voice of the late James Earl Jones for its interactive AI Darth Vader NPC in Fortnite. SAG-AFTRA spoke out against this, and many have cited it as an example of why the strike is still ongoing.
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Now it seems that there might be a breakthrough in the SAG-AFTRA video game strike, which has been going on for about 10 months as of this writing. An announcement from SAG-AFTRA (via PC Gamer) reads that the union has reached a “tentative” agreement with major publishers like Activision Productions Inc., Blindlight LLC, Disney Character Voices Inc., Electronic Arts Productions Inc., Epic Games Inc., Formosa Interactive LLC, Insomniac Games Inc., Take 2 Productions Inc., and WB Games Inc. For an Interactive Media Contract that could bring the strike to a close.
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Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the national executive director and chief negotiator for SAG-AFTRA, says that this new deal “puts in place the necessary AI guardrails that defend performers’ livelihoods in the AI age, alongside other important gains.” However, the agreement is still subject to review and approval by the National Board and ratification by the membership, which should come in the next few weeks. During this time, more specific details about what the deal entails will be released with the ratification materials.
Until then, the SAG-AFTRA strike will continue, with union president Fran Drescher stating that this new agreement might just be the next step in bringing about a better deal for the actors who work to bring video games to life. He also praised the members of SAG-AFTRA for standing firm “against some of the biggest employers in one of the world’s most lucrative industries” and showing strength during the nearly 10-month-long strike, which he says has been instrumental toward reaching this new tentative agreement.