Latest news with #AudreyCooling
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Video game actors' strike officially ends after AI deal
Video game actors have voted to end a year-long strike over artificial intelligence (AI) protections. About 2,500 members of US union SAG-Aftra were involved in the action against 10 of the biggest companies in the industry, including Activision and Electronic Arts. Both sides had spent months hashing out a deal over the use of AI to replicate an actor's performance - and "guardrails" to prevent this from happening. The union said 95% of those who voted had backed the agreement, which also included changes to pay and health and safety protections. Both sides had already been locked in negotiations for about 18 months when the strike began last July. At the time, SAG-Aftra said they had agreed on 24 out of 25 disputed areas but the sticking point was using AI to replicate human performances. The big barrier was a disagreement over motion capture actors whose work was treated as "data" rather than as a performance. In a statement released after the vote to end the strike, the union said a new contract secured "consent and disclosure requirements for AI digital replica use". Performers can also withdraw consent in the event of future strikes, it said. Audrey Cooling, spokesperson for the video game companies negotiating with SAG-Aftra, said they were "pleased" members had approved a new Interactive Media Agreement. She said it included "historic wage increases, industry-leading AI protections, and enhanced health and safety measures for performers". Ashly Burch is a video game actor known for her performances as Tiny Tina in the Borderlands Series and Chloe in adventure game Life is Strange. Speaking to BBC Newsbeat after the strike was suspended so members could vote, Ashly said performers didn't want a total ban on AI in game development. "We just don't want to be replaced by it," she said. She said AI was "arguably a bigger threat to voice and movement performers" than actors in film and TV, and the strike's main goal was guarantees around "consent, transparency, and compensation". "Basically you have to get our consent to make a digital replica of us," she said. "You have to tell us how you're going to use it, and then you have to compensate us fairly." One of Ashly's best-known characters - Aloy from Sony's Horizon series - became a talking point during the strike when an AI-powered prototype of the character leaked. She said the response from fans to the model - which showed the character responding to prompts from a player - was reassuring. "To a person, everyone was like, 'I don't want AI performances in my games,," she added. Ashly has also worked on live-action projects such as Apple TV show Mythic Quest and her recent web series I'm Happy You're Here, focused on mental health. She said both reminded her of what human beings can bring to a role. "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." The video game actors' strike did not affect the entire industry and mostly applied to workers and projects based in the US. And unlike the all-out 2023 Hollywood strike, video game performers were still able to work with companies that signed an interim addressing concerns over AI. Veteran voice actors Robbie Daymond and Ray Chase, who set up their own games studio, tell BBC Newsbeat the arrangement allowed them to continue work on their debut release, Date Everything! The game features a cast of roughly 70 well-known performers who were able to work on the project thanks to the interim deal. But Robbie, who's appeared in Final Fantasy 15 and various anime series, says it has been a tough year for performers in the US. "This was a long strike, and it has been heavily impactful for everybody involved," he says. Robbie says he is aware of people whose income took a hit in an industry where many performers do short stints on multiple projects. "I just hope people understand that when a strike goes on this long and people are talking about how serious it is for them, that it has a real human impact," he says. Video games strike rumbles on in row over AI Esports World Cup: The contest teams can't afford to miss Xbox producer tells staff to use AI to ease job loss pain Ray points out that voice actors had the option of taking work outside of video games, but the strike was especially hard for actors who specialise in motion capture. "If you came out to Los Angeles to be a motion capture actor, then your entire existence is being threatened by AI," he says. "Those guys are heroes for sticking out this long." Ray also points out that the strike will have affected video game developers if they weren't able to hire actors as easily. "Strikes are never easy on on workers. They're never easy on anybody," he says. "We're just so happy that we've found a peaceful resolution, for sure." Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.
BBC News
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Video game actors' strike officially ends after AI deal
Video game actors have voted to end a year-long strike over artificial intelligence (AI) 2,500 members of US union SAG-Aftra were involved in the action against 10 of the biggest companies in the industry, including Activision and Electronic sides had spent months hashing out a deal over the use of AI to replicate an actor's performance - and "guardrails" to prevent this from union said 95% of those who voted had backed the agreement, which also included changes to pay and health and safety protections. Both sides had already been locked in negotiations for about 18 months when the strike began last the time, SAG-Aftra said they had agreed on 24 out of 25 disputed areas but the sticking point was using AI to replicate human big barrier was a disagreement over motion capture actors whose work was treated as "data" rather than as a a statement released after the vote to end the strike, the union said a new contract secured "consent and disclosure requirements for AI digital replica use".Performers can also withdraw consent in the event of future strikes, it Cooling, spokesperson for the video game companies negotiating with SAG-Aftra, said they were "pleased" members had approved a new Interactive Media Agreement. She said it included "historic wage increases, industry-leading AI protections, and enhanced health and safety measures for performers". Ashly Burch is a video game actor known for her performances as Tiny Tina in the Borderlands Series and Chloe in adventure game Life is to BBC Newsbeat after the strike was suspended so members could vote, Ashly said performers didn't want a total ban on AI in game development."We just don't want to be replaced by it," she said AI was "arguably a bigger threat to voice and movement performers" than actors in film and TV, and the strike's main goal was guarantees around "consent, transparency, and compensation"."Basically you have to get our consent to make a digital replica of us," she said."You have to tell us how you're going to use it, and then you have to compensate us fairly."One of Ashly's best-known characters - Aloy from Sony's Horizon series - became a talking point during the strike when an AI-powered prototype of the character said the response from fans to the model - which showed the character responding to prompts from a player - was reassuring. "To a person, everyone was like, 'I don't want AI performances in my games,," she has also worked on live-action projects such as Apple TV show Mythic Quest and her recent web series I'm Happy You're Here, focused on mental health. She said both reminded her of what human beings can bring to a role."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." The video game actors' strike did not affect the entire industry and mostly applied to workers and projects based in the unlike the all-out 2023 Hollywood strike, video game performers were still able to work with companies that signed an interim addressing concerns over voice actors Robbie Daymond and Ray Chase, who set up their own games studio, tell BBC Newsbeat the arrangement allowed them to continue work on their debut release, Date Everything!The game features a cast of roughly 70 well-known performers who were able to work on the project thanks to the interim Robbie, who's appeared in Final Fantasy 15 and various anime series, says it has been a tough year for performers in the US."This was a long strike, and it has been heavily impactful for everybody involved," he says. Robbie says he is aware of people whose income took a hit in an industry where many performers do short stints on multiple projects."I just hope people understand that when a strike goes on this long and people are talking about how serious it is for them, that it has a real human impact," he says. Ray points out that voice actors had the option of taking work outside of video games, but the strike was especially hard for actors who specialise in motion capture."If you came out to Los Angeles to be a motion capture actor, then your entire existence is being threatened by AI," he says. "Those guys are heroes for sticking out this long."Ray also points out that the strike will have affected video game developers if they weren't able to hire actors as easily."Strikes are never easy on on workers. They're never easy on anybody," he says."We're just so happy that we've found a peaceful resolution, for sure." Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
SAG-AFTRA Outlines Remaining Sticking Points Over AI in Video Game Contract
SAG-AFTRA has released its latest counterproposal to the offer made by video game companies' to end the nine-month strike on interactive media, outlining the remaining sticking points on artificial intelligence protections that have been the sole impasse between the two sides. The counterproposal, which can be read here, comes ahead of a Wednesday evening membership meeting hosted by the actors' guild's negotiating committee for the Interactive Media Agreement, and two days after the companies publicly released their proposal to Variety, calling it their 'best and last' offer. 'We are hopeful the union will not choose to walk away when we are so close to a deal,' Audrey Cooling, spokesperson for the video game producers party to the Interactive Media Agreement, said in a statement to Variety. 'Our proposal includes wage increases of over 24% for SAG-AFTRA-represented performers in video games, 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. This is our last and best offer, and we hope the union will return to the table so we can reach a deal.' SAG-AFTRA condemned the companies' decision to take their proposal public, saying they had no intention of walking away from talks and had sent their latest counterproposal on May 2, three days after receiving the companies' offer. 'The statement suggesting that the union would 'walk away' from negotiations on this contract is absurd and the opposite of the truth. It is the employers who have threatened – through backchannel representatives – to move work to foreign countries and recast performers, in an unsuccessful effort to intimidate our negotiating committee and membership to capitulate to their demands,' SAG-AFTRA said in their own statement. 'It is the employers who have characterized their last counter as 'their last and best offer,' the union has taken no such step,' the statement continued. The 17-page document released by SAG-AFTRA breaks down the union's counterproposal on AI protections, showing where the union has reached a tentative agreement with the companies and where it has made concessions. The document is intended to help members understand how the contract language impacts them and their work. In terms of remaining sticking points, two notable ones remain. SAG-AFTRA is seeking language that guarantees performers' ability to withhold consent to their likeness and performance being used for digital replicas during a strike. 'Right now, employers have to find another performer to scab as placeholder or stand-in performance during a strike, but without the ability to suspend your Consent they could use your Replica to do it as you,' the guild wrote to members in the document. SAG-AFTRA also wholly rejected a proposal from the companies that they would offer buyouts for the use of a digital replica 'includes unlimited amount of dialogue and/or unlimited amount of new visual performance in scripted cinematic content.' The buyout would have a minimum of six times the applicable minimum scale for three years of unlimited digital replica use, after which time the buyout could be renewed or terminated, with the latter case resulting in the company no longer generating new material with the replica. SAG-AFTRA says it fundamentally opposes buyouts, calling them a 'purposeful discount to employers' and 'make it harder for performers to make a sustainable living,' as the performers who would work enough sessions on a project for a company to want to offer a digital replica buyout would earn far less under buyout pay than they would doing all the sessions. 'We reject unlimited DR use buyouts without a strong, clear justification. Employers have urged that Real-Time Generation and visual performance outside cinematics are difficult to track and pay by specific amount of use. We have repeatedly asked for why they can't pay by specific amount of use for performance they do typically track, meaning dialogue and visual performance for cinematics. No answer,' the union wrote. SAG-AFTRA previously went on a video game strike in 2016 that lasted for 11 months before being resolved in September 2017. While the strike is affecting video games on a case-by-case basis, the companies that are signatories to the Interactive Media Agreement are Activision, Blindlight, Disney Character Voices, Electronic Arts, Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, Llama Productions, Take 2 , VoiceWorks and WB Games. TheWrap has reached out to spokespersons for the video game companies for further comment. The post SAG-AFTRA Outlines Remaining Sticking Points Over AI in Video Game Contract appeared first on TheWrap.
