SAG-AFTRA signs interim AI agreements with 80 gaming studios

Studio Wildcard, Little Bat Games and Tencent's Lightspeed LA are among the first developers to agree to the union's AI usage terms and will be exempt from the ongoing actors strike.
September 6, 2024

Eighty video game developers have agreed to SAG-AFTRA’s new AI proposals, signing an interim agreement with the union to get striking performers back to work.

Video game actors have been on the picket line since July after 18 months of negotiations with major gamecos including Electronic Arts, Activision, Warner Bros. Games and Disney broke down over a lack of worker protections against AI.

While SAG-AFTRA has yet to publish a full list of the developers that are now exempt from the work stoppage, some of these companies include Studio Wildcard (Ark: Survival Evolved), Little Bat Games (Vampire Therapist) and Tencent’s Lightspeed LA (Last Sentinel). The union’s national executive director and chief negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, says this development signals that other major gamecos in the collective bargaining group do not represent the industry’s larger will to provide fair protections to its performers.

Under the interim deal, video game producers must notify and obtain consent from an actor if they intend to use AI to replicate the actors likeness and voice—and compensate them accordingly if they agree. Developers will also have to follow new provisions for compensation, health benefits and audition processes.

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