Latest news with #actorsstrike
Globe and Mail
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Globe and Mail
Video-game actors ratify new contract including AI protections, ending strike
Hollywood video-game voice and motion capture actors signed a new contract with video game studios on Wednesday with a focus on artificial intelligence protections, the actors' union, SAG-AFTRA, said in a press release, ending a nearly year-long strike. 'AI was the centrepiece of our proposal package,' video-game voice actor and member of the negotiation committee Sarah Elmaleh told Reuters after the new agreement passed. Elmaleh, a voice actor for popular titles like Final Fantasy XV and Call of Duty: Black Ops III, said she knew it was crucial to ensure there was a baseline for how to ethically use AI in the gaming industry. The new protections include consent and disclosure requirements for AI digital replica use and the ability for performers to suspend consent for the generation of new material during a strike. 'This deal achieves important progress around AI protections, and progress is the name of the game,' SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in the guild's statement. Opinion: OpenAI, Scarlett Johansson and artificial-intelligence bootlegging The deal applies to video game studios Activision Productions, Blindlight, Disney Character Voices, Electronic Arts Productions, Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, Llama Productions, Take 2 Productions and WB Games. 'On behalf of the video game producers that are party to the agreement, we are pleased that SAG-AFTRA members have ratified a new Interactive Media Agreement, which delivers historic wage increases, industry-leading A.I. protections, and enhanced health and safety measures for performers,' Audrey Cooling, spokesperson for the video game studios, said in the press release. The new Interactive Media Agreement, which goes into effect immediately, was approved by SAG-AFTRA members by a vote of 95.04 per cent to 4.96 per cent, ratifying the deal and ending the video-game strike, which had been suspended pending ratification. The new contract also offers more performer safety measures, which was a specific concern for motion capture video game performers. 'There are folks who not only give their voices to these characters, but their bodies, and they put their bodies on the line for these characters,' Elmaleh said. Motion capture actors will have medics available during high-risk jobs. Hollywood actors' union SAG-AFTRA strikes deal for advertisers to replicate actors' voices with AI The deal also provides compounded increases in performer pay at a rate of 15.17 per cent upon ratification plus additional three-per-cent increases in November 2025, November 2026 and November 2027. The work stoppage of video game voice actors and motion-capture performers started following failed contract negotiations focused around AI-related protections for workers, bringing about another work stoppage in Hollywood following the dual writers' and actors' strikes in 2023. The strike brought a larger call to action across Hollywood as people in the industry advocate for a law that can protect them from AI risks. The NO FAKES Act, a bipartisan bill in Congress which would make it illegal to make an AI replica of someone's likeness and voice without their permission, has gained support from the SAG-AFTRA performers union, the Motion Picture Association, The Recording Academy and Disney.
New York Times
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Video Game Actors End Contract Dispute Over A.I.
After striking for nearly 11 months, actors approved a new contract with major video game studios on Wednesday night that addressed concerns about the use of artificial intelligence to create digital replicas. The agreement with SAG-AFTRA requires the companies behind some of the world's most popular games, including Call of Duty, Mortal Kombat and Apex Legends, to obtain the written consent of performers to create visual or vocal replicas. Studios must also pay performers for the use of replicas at a rate comparable to in-person work. 'I feel incredibly relieved,' said Jennifer Hale, a voice actor known for her work on Mass Effect, Overwatch and other games. 'I feel more confident that the work I do will not be abused or misused.' The deal, which was approved by more than 95 percent of voters, echoes a framework established during the union's strike against film and television studios two summers ago. 'Members can go to work and feel confident that the work they're doing today isn't going to harm their career tomorrow,' Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the national executive director and chief negotiator of SAG-AFTRA, said in an interview. Video games have long relied on human actors to perform dialogue or model the appearance of digital characters. Actors were worried that powerful generative A.I. software could be used to replicate or repurpose their work indefinitely without their involvement. In May, Fortnite unveiled an A.I.-powered Darth Vader who responds to players in the booming voice of James Earl Jones; before the actor died last year, he had agreed to let A.I. learn from his vocal performances. In addition to the A.I. guardrails, the union's new contract includes annual pay raises for members through 2027, as well as new safety measures, such as a requirement that a medic be present for hazardous action performances. The actors ended their strike last month after a tentative deal had been reached. A future strike would automatically suspend their consent for the use of digital replicas to generate new material. The bargaining group for video game studios included Activision, Electronic Arts, Warner Bros. Games and six other companies. Audrey Cooling, a spokeswoman for the group, said in a statement that it was pleased the deal delivered 'historic wage increases' and 'industry-leading A.I. protections.' 'We look forward to building on our industry's decades-long partnership with the union and continuing to create groundbreaking entertainment experiences for billions of players worldwide,' the statement added. The actors went on strike last July after a lengthy effort to renegotiate a previous agreement that had expired in November 2022. The pay raises and safety measures had been agreed to by that point, leaving artificial intelligence as the sole dispute.
