Topline:
Video game performers have ratified a deal with companies after almost a year on strike.
What's in the new contract? The agreement includes consent and disclosure requirements for the use of AI digital replicas, according to a joint statement from the union and video game companies. It also includes an immediate 15% pay increase and additional annual 3% boosts.
Why now? The agreement concludes a three-year long bargaining process. Along the way, Hollywood also saw the twin actor and writer strikes in 2023, which also focused in part on the threat of artificial intelligence.
Why it matters? Artificial intelligence was the key dispute between voice and movement actors, who are represented by SAG-AFTRA, and companies like Insomniac Games and Activision Productions.
Read on... for how union members and video game producers are responding.
Video game performers have ratified a deal with companies after almost a year on strike.
Artificial intelligence was the key dispute between voice and movement actors, who are represented by SAG-AFTRA, and companies like Insomniac Games and Activision Productions. The agreement includes consent and disclosure requirements for the use of AI digital replicas, according to a joint statement from the union and video game companies.
"This deal achieves important progress around AI protections, and progress is the name of the game," SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said in a statement.
It also includes an immediate 15% pay increase and additional annual 3% boosts.
The deal was approved by the artists with a 95% yes vote.
Audrey Cooling, a representative for the video game producers, said in a statement that the contract “delivers historic wage increases, industry-leading AI protections, and enhanced health and safety measures for performers."
The agreement concludes a three-year long bargaining process. Along the way, Hollywood saw the twin actor and writer strikes in 2023, which also focused in part on the threat of artificial intelligence.
Note: Some members of the LAist newsroom are represented by SAG-AFTRA. They are not involved in this labor dispute.
