The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has issued an update to its members on the status of negotiations over video game actor AI protections, saying that while progress has been made, it is still “frustratingly far apart” with the industry bargaining group on key issues.
The guild has shared a chart demonstrating the differences between its own proposals and those of the games industry bargaining group, which consists of representatives from most major AAA gaming companies. Per SAG-AFTRA’s comparison, the following issues remain at large:
- Protection from digital replica or generative AI use for all work, not just work produced from the date of the agreement going forward.
- A definition of “digital replica”: SAG-AFTRA seeks to include any performance, vocal or movement, “readily identifiable or attributable to” a performer based on work contracts. The bargaining group wants to use the phrase “objectively identifiable,” which SAG-AFTRA says would allow employers to choose to excluse many performances.
- The inclusion of “movement” performers as a part of the generative AI agreement.
- Using phrase “real-time generation” to refer to generative AI-created performances. The bargaining group is proposing the term “procedural generation”, which SAG-AFTRA says has a different meaning in games.
- Whether or not employers must disclose if it will blend your voice with other voices to make a digital replica.
- Whether or not employers must disclose if your voice will be used for a real-time chatbot that could potentially say anything, or if it will just be created and shipped with scripted dialogue as a part of game development.
- SAG-AFTRA’s proposal withdraws consent for digital replica use when the guild goes on strike – employers want to continue to use them in the event of a strike, including on struck games.
- How long consent for real-time generation lasts: SAG-AFTRA proposes five years, after which it must be renewed. The bargaining group seeks consent for an unlimited amount of dialogue, forever.
- How much performers should be paid, minimum, for digital replica creation and use. The two groups have a number of disagreements on this front, but have tentatively agreed on how bonus pay is calculated.
- The bargaining group is proposing something that exists in the SAG-AFTRA TV/Film agreement that grants the employers bonus rights (easier scheduling/unlimited overtime/etc) if they pay a premium. SAG-AFTRA says the current proposal is too broad and would circumvent union rights as written, but says it would consider the concept with stricter boundaries.
- SAG-AFTRA wants to implement a system to track how and how much digital replicas are being used, to ensure performers are being paid appropriately. The bargaining group believes this is not feasible and is only willing to discuss the possibility as a part of the agreement.
- Some specific definitions around how “synthetic” performers are defined and regulated, aka characters created wholesale from generative AI systems.
That’s a long list, but the chart does make clear that the two groups have come to tentative agreements on a number of other issues, such as bonus pay, dispute resolution, certain elements of minimum compensation, requirement for consent, certain disclosures made to performers, and more. But SAG-AFTRA’s letter to members expresses concern that the bargaining employers are incorrectly conveying to members that the two groups are close to a deal, when SAG-AFTRA does not believe they are. As SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland wrote to members:
With their previously signed projects dragging their way through the production pipeline, employers are feeling the squeeze from the strike, as SAG-AFTRA members who work in video games continue to stand together and refuse to work without adequate protections. This is causing employers to seek other performers they can exploit to fill those roles, including those who don’t typically perform in games. If you’re approached for such a role, we urge you to seriously consider the consequences. Not only would you be undermining the efforts of your fellow members, but you would be putting yourself at risk by working without protections against A.I. misuse. And “A.I. misuse” is just a nice way of saying that these companies want to use your performance to replace you — without consent or compensation.
In response, Audrey Cooling, spokesperson for the video game industry bargaining group, issued the following statement:
We have proposed a deal that includes wage increases of over 15% for SAG-AFTRA represented performers in video games, as well as enhanced health and safety protections, industry-leading terms of use for AI digital replicas in-game and additional compensation for the use of an actor’s performance in other games. We have made meaningful progress and are eager to return to the bargaining table to reach a deal.
The SAG-AFTRA video game strike has been going on for eight months now, and was instigated specifically due to a lack of agreement on AI provisions while 24 out of 25 other contract proposals had been affirmed by both sides. While at first it was difficult to tell exactly how it would affect games actually in our hands, we’re starting to see the impacts visibly across the industry. Players have reported that a number of ongoing games such as Destiny 2 and World of Warcraft appear to have certain NPCs left unvoiced in otherwise voiced scenes, likely due to the strike. Late last year, SAG-AFTRA struck League of Legends after Riot allegedly tried to subvert the strike by canceling a game in response., and Activision confirmed Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 characters were recast after players expressed concern about new voices.
And just today, two Zenless Zone Zero voice actors revealed that they learned they’d been replaced when they saw the game’s latest patch notes.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
