Game actors have been on strike for over a year now, and while they say progress has been made in negotiations with companies like Electronic Arts and Activision Blizzard, they also claim that publishers are refusing to budge on offering meaningful AI protections. A major sticking point in the ongoing fight is the use of “digital replicas” which could be used to replace game actors in the future, including during a future strike.
“They want to use all past performances and any performance they can source from outside the contract without any of the protections being bargained at all,” chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland and negotiating chair Sarah Elmaleh wrote in a message to SAG-AFTRA members today. “You could be told nothing about your replica being used, offered nothing in the way of payment, and you could do nothing about it. They want to be able to make your replica continue to work, as you, during a future strike, whether you like it or not. And once you’ve given your specific consent for how your replica can be used, they refuse to tell you what they actually did with it.”
The internal communication said that while progress had been made on some issues, the guild was not close to a deal on AI protections. It linked to an extensive breakdown of current contract language proposals from both sides in which SAG-AFTRA accused game companies of wanting to retain overly broad loopholes that would effectively render the whole AI protection provision moot. One particular sticking point is a carveout that would let companies create digital replicas using any existing in-game performances from prior to the next contract, as well as any publicly available data like voice actors doing interviews on YouTube.
“Digital Replica and Generative AI protections only apply to services provided after this Agreement is signed,” reads the guild’s chart. “Previous game work (including Sideletter 6 games) and un-covered work (anything available in public; YouTube, websites, etc.) are carved out with no transparency, consent or compensation. This makes the entire AI protection provision useless.”
SAG-AFTRA also accuses game companies of trying to get its members to turn on one another and of trying to “exploit” actors who don’t typically perform in games to fill roles during the ongoing strike. “I was replaced as Soldier 11 because I am unwilling to perform work not covered by a SAG Interim Agreement during a strike for AI protection, the outcome of which will determine the future of our industry,” Zenless Zone Zero’s Soldier 11 voice actor, Emeri Chase, wrote on social media today.
Other game performers have also been replaced as the strike has continued, including actors for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. “My only concern is for my brand as a performer. Fans of the game have reached out to me because the lack of crediting [of the replacement actor] implies that it may still be me which unfairly represents my abilities as a performer,” Zeke Alton, who plays William Peck, told Game Developer last year.
“We have proposed a deal that includes wage increases of over 15% for SAG-AFTRA represented performers in video games, as well as enhanced health and safety protections, industry-leading terms of use for AI digital replicas in-game and additional compensation for the use of an actor’s performance in other games,” a spokesperson for the game company bargaining group, Audrey Cooling, said in a statement. “We have made meaningful progress and are eager to return to the bargaining table to reach a deal.”
Meanwhile, story scenes in Destiny 2 have gone unvoiced in the new Heresy saga and other roles risk being recast at studios that don’t sign onto interim agreements with AI protections. Earlier this week, an eerie internal Sony demo leaked online showing a version of Horizon Zero Dawn’s Aloy voiced and controlled by AI.
“If you’re approached for such a role, we urge you to seriously consider the consequences,” the guild told members. “Not only would you be undermining the efforts of your fellow members, but you would be putting yourself at risk by working without protections against A.I. misuse. And ‘A.I. misuse’ is just a nice way of saying that these companies want to use your performance to replace you — without consent or compensation.”
.