SAG-AFTRA takes the AI war to the next level with strikes beginning tomorrow

• The union’s members already authorised potential strike action in September 2023 while talks with studios have been ongoing since 2022
• Now picket lines are set to appear at 10 major games companies, starting tomorrow 1st August

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Previously the use of AI in video games (to potentially reduce or eliminate the need for human acting or voice talent) had very much been an ‘also-ran’ aspect of SAG-AFTRA’s anti-AI activity. Now the Screen Actor’s Guild’s union is set to go next level, calling a strike for its members directly targeted at the video games industry and what it sees as an increasing, impending threat to its members’ best interests due to the rise of AI in games production.

With the video games industry’s earnings easily eclipsing those of the movie industry and the increasingly front-facing profile AI has in game production, such moves are hardly unexpected and are potentially long overdue.

The insidious rise of AI

It’s no secret that AI can not only speed up the production of video games through the accurate cloning and generative interpolation of actors’ voice acting or physical performances but also has the potential to eliminate the need for human talent altogether. Companies such as Krafton – eager to ride the AI wave popular with investors – have already gone overboard to extol the virtues of their AI’s ability to better the performance of “limited voice actors”.

Their aim to allow their bots to become level designers, use generated text to replace writers, and take work from voice actors is well known. Bots are now actively involved in game design and QA at Krafton, and the PUBG maker has built a system for further bot production taking place automatically.

Instead of relying on the “traditional method” of paying authors to write game scripts, AI is being implemented to create “infinite” dialogue options and create more varied and interactive NPCs.

Text-to-speech AI, meanwhile, is – they believe – able to offer a path to broader acting capabilities that “best fit the characteristics of the game”.

Drawing a line in the sand

Where such cutting edge companies tread, the rest will surely follow. And that’s the shift that SAG-AFTRA is eager to stop or at least slowdown via the implementation of fair compensation for its members and their latest strike.

The union’s members already authorised potential strike action in September 2023 while talks with studios have been ongoing since 2022.

But after this slow start, the upswell of anti-AI protest is now coming in hard and fast. On July 19th Bethesda Game Studios employees established a comprehensive unit with the Communications Workers of America aimed at protecting their members which was subsequently recognised by parent company Microsoft, marking the first such amalgamation at one of the firm’s game studios.

Then on July 24th what Slate.com described as “hundreds of World of Warcraft specialists and dozens of Texas-based quality-assurance testers” at Blizzard Entertainment, organized similar guilds under the CWA, following Bethesda’s lead.

Gaming performers and voice actors represented by the Screen Actors Guild have now began a legally endorsed strike at 10 major gaming studios: Activision, Blindlight, Disney Character Voices, EA, Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, Llama Productions, Take-Two, VoiceWorks, and WB Games. The first visible action of this strike being picket lines at these companies starting tomorrow, Thursday 1st August 2024.

It’s worth noting that the union previously undertook a video game focused voice actors strike in 2016 – 2017 – a disagreement in pay levels which resulted in salary hikes for its members. But – if speculation turns out to be true – this latest battle could hit much harder and involve more money than any previous disagreement – including the writer’s strike that saw SAG-AFTRA members walk out, effectively ending all movie and TV production for four months in 2023.

The AI war starts here

“The video game industry generates billions of dollars in profit annually,” said SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. “The driving force behind that success is the creative people who design and create those games. That includes the SAG-AFTRA members who bring memorable and beloved game characters to life, and they deserve and demand the same fundamental protections as performers in film, television, streaming, and music: fair compensation and the right of informed consent for the AI use of their faces, voices, and bodies.”

And – in reference to the union’s previous work and successful strike resolving the rights for writers, Crabtree-Ireland comments: “Frankly, it’s stunning that these video game studios haven’t learned anything from the lessons of last year – that our members can and will stand up and demand fair and equitable treatment with respect to AI, and the public supports us in that.”

Change of plan

Previously the union had inked an early AI deal for their members enabling voice replicas in games via Replica Studios. The deal allowed video game studios working with the company to access SAG-AFTRA talent and use their voices in games with payments being due to the artists involved – a move that took many members by surprise with the previously battle-ready union appearing to simply roll over and sell out rather than halt further AI intrusion.

Now it seems things are moving too fast and such a deal with a single entity is looking increasingly insignificant against an impending AI tidal wave set to swamp all voice over talent. 

And it’s clear that SAG-AFTRA now feel the same with nothing but all out war against AI and its owners as their next line of defence.

“Eighteen months of negotiations have shown us that our employers are not interested in fair, reasonable AI protections, but rather flagrant exploitation,” said SAG-AFTRA Interactive Media Agreement negotiating committee chair Sarah Elmaleh. “We refuse this paradigm – we will not leave any of our members behind, nor will we wait for sufficient protection any longer. We look forward to collaborating with teams on our interim and independent contracts, which provide AI transparency, consent and compensation to all performers, and to continuing to negotiate in good faith with this bargaining group when they are ready to join us in the world we all deserve.” 

This one looks like it’s going to run and run. We’ll keep you updated.