Hollywood video game actors go on strike over AI concerns after more than a year of negotiations
The strike begins at 12:01 a.m. July 26.
SAG-AFTRA members who work on video games have voted to go on strike one year after their counterparts in TV and film began a work stoppage that lasted four months.
The decision follows more than a year and a half of negotiations — with companies including Activision Productions Inc., Disney Character Voices Inc., and Electronic Arts Productions Inc. — primarily over the use of artificial intelligence, which was also a sticking point in last year's Hollywood strike, as performers wanted protections from possible job losses.
"We're not going to consent to a contract that allows companies to abuse AI to the detriment of our members," SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said in a statement. "Enough is enough. When these companies get serious about offering an agreement our members can live — and work — with, we will be here, ready to negotiate."
Related: Strike force: How Hollywood helped each other through actors' and writers' strike
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Negotiations between the two sides began in October 2022, and members approved a strike, with 98.3 percent of them voting yes, in September 2023, according to the guild.
"Although agreements have been reached on many issues important to SAG-AFTRA members, the employers refuse to plainly affirm, in clear and enforceable language, that they will protect all performers covered by this contract in their AI language," SAG-AFTRA members stated in a press release.
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SAG-AFTRA's national executive director and chief negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, added: "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. 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."
The strike begins at 12:01 a.m. local time on July 26.
Approximately 160,000 performers — including actors, broadcast journalists, DJs, voiceover artists, influencers, program hosts, puppeteers, and more — are members of SAG-AFTRA. Performers and audiences alike are still feeling the effects of last year's SAG-AFTRA strike, which was compounded by a writers' strike.
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