A number of huge game studios are set to be affected by voice actors going on strike over the use of AI.
Voice actors represented by SAG-AFTRA, one of the largest trade unions in the United States, confirmed they were set to strike over concerns about generative AI. It comes after 21 months of negotiations between some of the biggest publishers and studios in the world failed to come to a deal.
Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two, Activision, Insomniac and EA will all be impacted by the walk-outs, which started at midnight last night (July 25). Voice acting studio Formosa Interactive, which has provided talent for The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild and Death Stranding, will also be hit by the strikes.
“We’re not going to consent to a contract that allows companies to abuse AI to the detriment of our members,” SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said in a statement (via Game File). “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.”
“We are disappointed the union has chosen to walk away when we are so close to a deal, and we remain prepared to resume negotiations,” a rep for the game production companies said. However, SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said the studios aren’t providing voice actors “fair compensation and the right of informed consent for the AI use of their faces, voices, and bodies.”
BREAKING: SAG-AFTRA video game voice/performance actors are going on strike at midnight tonight. Basically over AI
"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." – AG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher pic.twitter.com/MiiATQiHtq
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo)
