SAG-AFTRA & Video Game Performers Start Strike Against Major Game Publishers

SAG-AFTRA and video game voice actors/performers who are members of SAG-AFTRA have announced that they are officially going on strike.

In a press release, SAG-AFTRA confirmed that its video game voice actors will go on strike beginning at 12:01 AM PT on Friday, 26 July 2024. This vote comes after over one year and a half of failed negotiations between game companies and workers that has not resulted in any concrete deals.

The main reason for the strike is that video game companies have not come to an agreement with actors over regulating generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in their projects.

Without any new deals in place, game companies can train AI to replicate an actor’s voice, or create a digital replica of their likeness without consent or fair compensation.

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said:

“We’re not going to consent to a contract that allows companies to abuse A.I. to the detriment of our members. 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. Eighteen months of negotiations have shown us that our employers are not interested in fair, reasonable A.I. protections, but rather flagrant exploitation. We refuse this paradigm – we will not leave any of our members behind or wait for sufficient protection any longer.”

The video game companies/publishers/developers currently facing the strike include:

• Activision Productions Inc.
• Blindlight LLC
• Disney Character Voices Inc.
• Electronic Arts Productions Inc.
• Epic Games Inc.
• Formosa Interactive LLC
• Insomniac Games Inc.
• Take Two Productions Inc.
• VoiceWorks Productions Inc.
• WB Games Inc.

Unlike movies (which just had a major months-long strike in 2023), video games can technically continue development even without video game actors. However, bigger-scale games, especially AAA ones, usually have a lot of voice acting in them, so this strike will definitely affect AAA games, especially.

Looking through the list of the companies affected, we can already predict what games will be affected, including Marvel’s Wolverine by Insomniac Games, Grand Theft Auto 6 / GTA 6 by Rockstar Games (which is under Take Two), and more.

Hopefully, this situation will be resolved sooner rather than later with a new deal that will be fair for SAG-AFTRA and the many video game performers/actors.