Members of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) announced Monday that they will vote overwhelmingly in favor of giving their leaders the power to strike against video game production companies if they cannot reach an agreement on a new contract. The authorization, which would not trigger a strike but is intended to give leaders bargaining leverage, brings the union closer to a second potential work stoppage that would further disrupt the entertainment industry.
Screen Actors Guild film and television actors have been on strike since mid-July, joining the Writers Guild of America picket lines for the first time in 63 years. (Screenwriters and major Hollywood studios reached a tentative agreement Sunday.) The union said the strike authorization was supported by 98 percent of voters. The move comes as union leaders and gaming companies prepare for a new round of talks over the interactive media deal, which is set to begin on Tuesday.
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG U.S. executive director and chief negotiator, said in a statement: "After five rounds of negotiations, it has become clear that video game companies are unwilling to meaningfully engage on key issues: lower pay due to inflation, unregulated use of artificial intelligence and safety."
"We hope the additional leverage provided by a successful strike authorization vote will force the studios to take significant action on critical issues on which we remain deeply divided," the Screen Actors Guild said in a statement.
The union also represents television and film actors and is currently on strike against Hollywood studios. Like that strike with writers, the dispute with video game makers involves how artificial intelligence is used to recreate the voices and images of actors.
Video game workers are bargaining with subsidiaries of top game companies including Activision Blizzard (ATVI), Electronic Arts (EA), Epic Games, Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO) and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). Video game voice actors worry that without adequate contractual protections, artificial intelligence could copy or remix their voices without consent or payment.
"The unregulated use of artificial intelligence poses an existential threat to those who make a living from their voice, image or performance," said Ray Rodriguez, chief contracts officer of the Screen Actors Guild.
Both the union and the Writers Guild of America have expressed concern that members will lose control of their writing, voice or image through the use of generative AI. Because the game is computer-generated, the stakes for the game's cast and crew are high, Rodriguez said. Workers also claim that actors who use motion capture technology to perform stunts for video games are working in unsafe conditions. The bargaining committee is demanding stronger protections for workers, including five-minute breaks every hour for performers in front of the camera and an on-set medic for stunts and hazardous work.
Ashley Burch, the voice actor for the protagonist of Sony Group's "Horizon" series, pointed out: "Games are basically playable action movies. We need a permanent doctor."
They demand the same wage increases as film and television workers. Video game voice actors went on strike for nearly a year in 2017, demanding residual pay, voice protections and pay transparency. "Employers at video game companies see themselves as technology companies in the technology business, not as entertainment companies," Rodriguez said.
Game actors and performers believe that AI is as much, if not more, a threat to the video game industry than to film and television, especially since so many people are doing voiceover work. Performers say they don't want companies to stop using artificial intelligence. Instead, they argue, workers should have contracts that require them to agree to have their voices or likenesses reproduced and compensate them if that happens. Sarah Elmaleh, chair of the interactive negotiating committee, said some members were excited about the new revenue streams AI could bring, while others were more cautious.
Under the Interactive Agreement, video game actors are demanding the same salary increases as with their film and television contracts to keep pace with inflation. The negotiating committee called for an 11% increase after the last contract expires and a 4% increase in the second and third years of the agreement. But the union said in a post on its website that gaming company wages are recommended to increase by 5% upon approval, 4% in the second year and 3% in the third year. According to the union leadership, the gaming companies that signed the contract last year generated more than $19 billion in global revenue.
If a strike takes place under the interactive contract, it will be the first since October 2016. In that strike that lasted for more than a year, the Screen Actors Guild targeted 11 companies, including Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, TakeTwo, Insomniac Games, and The Walt Disney Company. The union and video game companies reached a tentative agreement in September 2017 that included a new bonus compensation structure for actors doing voice and motion capture work in the gaming industry.
Interactive bargaining committee member Zeke Alton noted that there were some "concerns" among members who were tired from the last video game strike and this year's entertainment industry strike, but workers generally agreed that a mandate was "absolutely needed at this time."
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