SAG-AFTRA members who perform in video games are striking starting on Friday, the group announced on Thursday, July 25, citing over a year and half of contract negotiations that failed to reach a deal. Workers representing companies including Electronic Arts, Disney, Take-Two, and more are demanding better compensation and informed consent for artificial intelligence’s use of their likenesses.
The strike involves actors who work in video games, either through voice acting, motion-capture, or both. According to the union, negotiations began on October 2022. More than a year later, members voted to strike after employers did not agree to “protect all performers covered by this contract in their A.I. language,” according to a SAG-AFTRA press release. The strike bears parallels to the one in the entertainment industry that ended last November.
“The video game industry generates billions of dollars in profit annually. The driving force behind that success is the creative people who design and create those games,” said chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. “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.”
Video game actors are often a tantalizing reason for gamers to invest their valuable hours. Just in the past few years alone, games like Cyberpunk 2077 and The Last of Us have harnessed the power of celebrity, including the likenesses of stars like Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba, and more. As more companies adopt generative AI in their toolboxes, actors have expressed doubts about how their likenesses will be used without their consent. If the gaming strike resembles last year’s entertainment debacle, it could tie up already lengthy production and development times. That could lead to further delays to everyone’s most anticipated games, such as Take-Two’s Grand Theft Auto 6, slated for next year, which analysts have already deemed could be 2025’s biggest hit. Take-Two declined to comment.
Games that began production before August 2023 will not be included in the strike, according to the terms. That means Grand Theft Auto 6 is a non-struck game. Non-struck titles may still be indirectly affected by the strike, however, says the union.
“Members who want to show solidarity with the union can elect voluntarily not to work on these titles. And we know that many of our members are going to become unavailable to work on those,” chief contracts officer Ray Rodriguez tells Inverse in a phone call. “So while [non-struck games like Grand Theft Auto 6] may not be subject to a strike in the technical sense, their production is also subject to being disrupted by members who don’t want to work without the proection of AI terms and who don’t want to undermine solidarity with the union.”
The video game companies negotiating the deal with SAG-AFTRA responded in statement that they were disappointed the union has chosen to strike “when we are so close to a deal.” Audrey Cooling, a spokesperson for the companies, noted by email that the parties had already found common ground on 24 out of 25 proposals, including wage increases. Cooling stated that their offer already “extends meaningful A.I. protections that include requiring consent and fair compensation to all performers” under the contract, and called the deal terms “among the strongest in the entertainment industry.”
The employers are still considering the terms that the union has requested. The sticking point is whether actors should be compensated for on-camera performances that are AI-generated digital replicas.
Rodriguez says that the employers have offered to compensate performers if their likenesses are recognizable — a term that the union refuses to accept as it believes many of the actors’ likenesses are likely to be changed in-game. “In video games, that’s not going to happen. If you’re doing the stunt work for Spider-Man, when the final game comes out, what the players are going to see is Spider-Man, not you... We're not going to make a deal that protects only half our members.”
Update, July 26: This article has been updated with more clarity around the AI concessions and the strike’s impact on Grand Theft Auto 6.
