SAG-AFTRA will go on strike against major video game publishers, the actors union announced Thursday, following more than a year and half of negotiations, with the main sticking being protections against the use of artificial intelligence.
“Although agreements have been reached on many issues important to SAG-AFTRA members, the employers refuse to plainly affirm, in clear and enforceable language, that they will protect all performers covered by this contract in their A.I. language,” SAG-AFTRA said.
The strike was called by SAG-AFTRAnational executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland and the Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating Committee. It will go into effect July 26 at 12:01 a.m.
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Per the actors union, “Any game looking to employ SAG-AFTRA talent to perform covered work must sign on to the new Tiered-Budget Independent Interactive Media Agreement, the Interim Interactive Media Agreement or the Interim Interactive Localization Agreement. These agreements offer critical A.I. protections for members.”
The video game companies included in the strike are: Activision Productions Inc., Blindlight LLC, Disney Character Voices Inc., Electronic Arts Productions Inc., Formosa Interactive LLC, Insomniac Games Inc., Llama Productions LLC, Take 2 Productions Inc., VoiceWorks Productions Inc., and WB Games Inc.
Sources tell PvNew that SAG-AFTRA responded to the video game companies most recent proposal, which was sent in May, on July 19 and that the union gave the companies three days to respond. A Zoom meeting was then held on Tuesday, during which talks progressed between the negotiating teams and the the gaming companies were then given until noon PT on Wednesday to send a new offer based on those conversations.
The publishers’ side sent its new proposal Wednesday, and received a counteroffer from SAG-AFTRA on Thursday, which arrived simultaneously with the actors union’s decision to strike. The gaming companies, which believe their most recent offer has changed significantly in extending further protections against A.I. then what they had offered in May and does not exclude any category of performer, are currently reviewing this latest proposal from the union side.
“We’re not going to consent to a contract that allows companies to abuse A.I. to the detriment of our members,” SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said Thursday. “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 weremainprepared to resume negotiations,” Audrey Cooling, spokesperson for the video game producers party to the Interactive Media Agreement said in a statement on behalf of the gaming publishers. “We have already found common ground on 24 out of 25 proposals, including historic wage increases andadditionalsafety provisions.Our offer is directly responsive to SAG-AFTRA’s concerns and extends meaningful AI protections that includerequiringconsent and fair compensation to all performersworking under the IMA. These terms are among the strongest in the entertainment industry.”
Negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the gaming publishers on the new agreement began in October 2022. The union started seeking approval for this second strike last September and members authorized the work stoppage with a 98.32% vote.
SAG-AFTRA last went on strike against the video game makers in October 2016, as the union fought for a residual compensation structure. The strike ended nearly a year later, in September 2017.
The strike begins just as San Diego Comic-Con is kicking off, and during a press conference Thursday, Sarah Elmaleh, chair of SAG-AFTRA Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating Committee, noted that the union’s video game performers were free to “go and have fun” because Comic Con is “exempt” from the strike. Those performers scheduled to participate in panels and events for struck companies are also exempt.
“It’s just out of consideration in fact that this is happening very quickly, and our members are no doubt going to take some time to absorb the the full scope of strike order and the rules and all of that other stuff,” Elmaleh said. “We feel very passionately that being at Comic Con in order to share what it is we need, why we need it, is the best way to serve this action. To be open to conversation. That’s one reason why we decided to allow that — that moment for folks to take their time and understand how exactly to be in compliance, while at the same time, sharing this message as broadly, and as quickly as we can.”
