Nearly five months into its strike against major game publishers, SAG-AFTRA is offering a contract update that would allow international studios to employ US performers for localizing foreign titles into English, even while the strike continues.
The Independent Interactive Localization Agreement offers voice actors and motion-capture performers working with international game studios the same generative AI protections as in SAG-AFTRA’s interim deal with US-based game developers. These include provisions that a studio must disclose and obtain consent from an actor if it intends to use AI to replicate their likeness or voice—and compensate them if they agree.
Other additions to the original 2020 Localization Agreement include a new pricing menu for in-booth sessions and work-from-home recording options for both principal and atmospheric roles, giving studios more choice in how they spend their budgets to hire union members.
According to the union, industry response to the new contract offer seems positive. SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland says it has already signed interim localization agreements with some studios.
With the addition of this Independent Interactive Localization Agreement, the union has created three contracts that offer exemptions from the ongoing strike action to implement a new Interactive Media Agreement. The other contracts are a Tiered-Budget Independent Interactive Media Agreement for indie developers, and an Interim Interactive Media Agreement for larger studios.