SAG-AFTRA to strike video game companies

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Key Takeaways

SAG-AFTRA is on strike against video game companies starting Thursday.
The main problem is the payment and consent of the players involved in the AI content.
Negotiations have been ongoing since October 2022.

SAG-AFTRA — the union best known for representing Hollywood actors — is moving ahead with a strike by the biggest players in the video game industry, starting at 12:01AM on July 26. At stake is compensation and permission to use the players' voices and the likes of AI content, which is likely to increase significantly. The union has faced similar problems in the movie and TV industries, and is looking to refocus its efforts, this time on video game makers.

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The issue is on the table

Negotiations with animal companies have been ongoing since October 2022, and some agreements have reportedly been reached on other topics. SAG-AFTRA says, however, the companies have refused to “affirm clearly, in clear and binding language” that they will sign an agreement related to AI when it comes to hiring union talent. In fact, union members voted to authorize a strike with a 98.32% majority starting in September 2023.

On the other side of the argument are some of the gaming industry's biggest players, including Activision Blizzard, EA, Disney, Take 2, and WB Games. Businesses like Activision have sometimes fought unionization — looking to cut labor costs as game budgets rise — but not always. Just this week, Blizzard's team working on World of Warcraft successfully formed a union without resistance from management.

Why is AI such a big deal for video gamers?

The advent of artificial intelligence can make it easier than ever for studios to use actors' images and voices. A developer could, hypothetically, hire a voice actor to script a game, but then use AI to add lines they didn't agree to record, or add their voice to a completely different title. In the same way, image production technology has advanced to the point that an actor's face can be combined with characters he did not agree to play.

These are all concerns about movies and TV shows, but games often have less in the way of union protection, and more temptation to use every new tool available. Many games have become incredibly complex, taking several years to go from start to finish, with the need to tweak them over and over to get the best game. AI has already been used to solve many development problems in aviation, such as virtual reality.