Voice actors for videogames and performers for motion capture have gone on strike after labor contract negotiations fell short on protections with workers and artificial intelligence, adding another work stoppage to the list in Hollywood.
The SAG-AFTRA has called for a strike in the Interactive Media Agreement, which covers video game performers, effective July 26, the union said Thursday.
The decision comes after months of negotiation with the top videogame companies such as Activision Productions, Electronic Arts EA.O, Epic Games, Take-Two Interactive TTWO.O, Disney DIS.N Character Voices, and Warner Bros Discovery’s WBD.O WB Games.
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The Interactive Media Agreement had expired in November 2022 and had been extended month-to-month while the parties negotiated. “Although many of the issues key to SAG-AFTRA members have reached tentative agreement, the employers will not plainly agree, in clear and enforceable language, that it will protect all performers covered by this contract in their AI language,” stated the union.
The SAG-AFTRA also represents the film and television actors who walked out in July last year over concerns there were insufficient safeguards against artificial intelligence, putting Hollywood in the middle of two concurrent work stoppages for the first time in 63 years.
While movie and TV studios negotiated as a block, with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) doing the negotiating for them, there’s no analogous group in games, so he believes it highly likely that one or more game developers will cave to the union’s demands, Wedbush managing director Michael Pachter said.
Apart from AI protections, higher pay, medical treatment, and breaks for motion capture performers are two of the most important issues that SAG-AFTRA is pushing for in their videogame performer contract negotiations.
SAG-AFTRA says videogame performer pay hasn’t risen with inflation. It is also seeking more protections for the very physical work of motion-capture performers—wearing markers or sensors on the skin or a body suit to help video game makers create character movements.
The union has just walked away when we’re so close to a deal, and we actually remain ready to resume negotiations. In scattered canvases, issues have been reached on 24 out of the 25 proposals laid down with historic wage hikes and additional safety measures, says Audrey Cooling, spokesperson for the videogame producers party to the Interactive Media Agreement.
The deal offered to the SAG-AFTRA contains AI safeguards, including requiring consent and fair compensation to all performers working in the future under the IMA, Cooling said. However, Wedbush’s Pachter estimated that the voice actors are only a very small gif of game development costs that currently top out with an average of more than $80 million for a project, while the amounts used by voice actors make up only about $500,000 of that. “It just isn’t worth holding up a game’s release to save a few hundred thousand dollars,” said Pachter.
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