SAG-AFTRA Gets Temporary AI Protection Deal With 80 Video Games

A little over A month after SAG-AFTRA Chief Negotiator and Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland called for a strike against video game companies, 80 games have agreed to staggered-budget or interim contracts that include “reasonable AI safeguards.”

“We appreciate the video game companies that have signed our budget and transition agreement,” Crabtree-Ireland said in a statement. “Not only are they doing the right thing by their employees, but they are also helping to preserve the human art, ingenuity and creativity that fuels interactive storytelling.”

“These agreements signal that the video game companies in the collective bargaining group do not represent the will of the larger video game industry,” Crabtree-Ireland continued. “The many companies that are happy to agree to our AI terms demonstrate that these terms are not only reasonable, but also workable and sustainable for businesses.”

While not all of the video game companies that agreed were named, representatives from Little Bat Games and Studio Wildcard issued statements supporting the agreement. The video game producers’ strike began on July 26 after 18 months of negotiations.

Video game companies affected by the shutdown include Insomniac Games Inc., WB Games Inc., Epic Games Inc., Activision Productions Inc., Blindlight LLC, Electronic Arts Productions Inc., Formosa Interactive LLC, Take 2 Productions Inc., VoiceWorks Productions Inc. and Disney Character Voices Inc.

On Wednesday, the guild announced it had reached an agreement with video game developer Lightspeed LA to work under a temporary interactive media agreement.

The Interactive Media Agreement, which protects about 2,600 voice and motion capture performers in the video game industry, is set to expire in November 2022. In recent contract negotiations, video game performers are seeking permission to create AI replicas or use their voice and likeness using AI, and to be compensated for the use.