After nearly a year of back and forths, the video game actors’ strike has at last come to an end. This decision affects the 2,500 union members of SAG-AFTRA. The lawsuit, first filed last July, specifically named ten of the biggest players in the industry. The strike only applied to workers and projects in the U.S. It opened up a much-needed discussion about the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) reproducing human performances.
SAG-AFTRA announced that they had achieved consensus on 24 of the 25 contested bargaining points in the negotiations. In short, the use of AI to replicate actors’ performances was a major sticking point. This problem forced both parties to waste months negotiating “guardrails” to avoid their misuse. After long and arduous negotiations that lasted nearly 1.5 years before the strike started, the two sides were able to reach a mutually agreeable resolution.
The union reported that 95% of members who voted supported the new Interactive Media Agreement, which includes changes to pay and health and safety protections for performers. Ashly Burch, a prominent voice in the gaming community known for her roles as Tiny Tina in the Borderlands series and Chloe in Life is Strange, was a vocal supporter of the strike. She emphasized the risks associated with AI, stating, “And that, to me, as a person that loves games and loves art, is the big risk of AI, that we’re going to lose out on really interesting, evocative performances.”
During the negotiations, an AI-powered prototype of Burch’s character, Sony’s Aloy from the hugely popular Horizon series, stole the show. It turned into an important plank of debate. Burch expressed her concerns about consent and compensation regarding digital replicas, stating, “Basically you have to get our consent to make a digital replica of us. You have to tell us how you’re going to use it, and then you have to compensate us fairly.” Her stance reflected a widespread sentiment among performers during the strike: “To a person, everyone was like, ‘I don’t want AI performances in my games.’ We just don’t want to be replaced by it.”
The strike wasn’t just about actors — it had huge ramifications for video game developers as well. Many discovered they weren’t able to readily hire actors during this time. Despite that, many projects were allowed to finish design and advance construction under these temporary arrangements. Robbie Daymond and Ray Chase, who founded their own game studio, expressed relief at being able to work on their debut release, Date Everything!, thanks to such arrangements.
“This was a long strike, and it has been heavily impactful for everybody involved,” said Daymond. Chase added, “If you came out to Los Angeles to be a motion capture actor, then your entire existence is being threatened by AI.” He noted the emotional toll strikes take on workers: “Strikes are never easy on workers. They’re never easy on anybody.”
The agreement reached between SAG-AFTRA and the video game companies includes “historic wage increases, industry-leading AI protections, and enhanced health and safety measures for performers,” according to Burch. As the industry continues to move forward out of this difficult time, Burch and other performers are optimistic. It’s their hope that their personal journeys will help illuminate the human impacts caused by these labor disputes.
Audrey Cooling, a spokesperson for the negotiating companies, expressed satisfaction with the resolution: “We are pleased that members have approved a new Interactive Media Agreement.” The new deal aims to provide a stable foundation for future collaborations between performers and companies in the gaming industry.