LOS ANGELES — Hollywood’s video game artists voted to strike on Thursday, sending part of the entertainment industry back on strike after negotiations over a new contract with major game studios collapsed. protection against artificial intelligence.
The strike — the second for video game voice actors and motion capture artists under the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists — begins at 12:01 a.m. ET on Friday. The move comes after nearly two years of negotiations with gaming giants including divisions of Activision, Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Co. over a new interactive media deal.
SAG-AFTRA negotiators say gains were made on wages and job security in the video game contract, but that studios will not reach a deal on regulating generative AI. Without restrictions, game companies could train AI to replicate an actor’s voice, or create a digital replica of their likeness without consent or fair compensation, the union said.
Fran Drescher, the union’s president, said in a prepared statement that members would not agree to a contract that would allow companies to “misuse AI.”
“Enough is enough. When these companies are serious about offering a deal that our members can live — and work — with, we will be here, ready to negotiate,” Drescher said.
A representative for the studios did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The global video game industry generates more than $100 billion in annual revenue, according to a gaming market forecaster New zooThe people who design and bring these games to life are the driving force behind that success, SAG-AFTRA said.
“Eighteen months of negotiations have taught us that our employers are not interested in fair, reasonable AI protections, but rather in blatant exploitation,” said Sarah Elmaleh, chair of the Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating Committee.
Last month, union negotiators told The Associated Press that the game studios were refusing to provide “an equal level of protection from the dangers of AI to all of our members” — particularly motion artists.
Members voted overwhelmingly last year to give management the power to strike. Concerns about how movie studios AI has helped last year’s four-month-long union strikes in the film and television sector.
The last interactive contract, which expired in November 2022, did not include protections around AI but did create a bonus compensation structure for voice actors and performance capture artists following an 11-month strike that began in October 2016. That work stoppage marked SAG-AFTRA’s first major labor action since the merger of Hollywood’s two largest actors unions in 2012.
According to the union, the video game deal includes more than 2,500 “off-camera (voice-over) artists, on-camera (motion capture, stunt) artists, stunt coordinators, singers, dancers, puppeteers and background performers.”
Amid the tense interactive negotiations, SAG-AFTRA in February created a separate contract that covered indie and low-budget video game projects. The independent interactive media deal with a tiered budget includes some of the AI protections that the video game industry titans have rejected.