For close to two years, SAG-AFTRA has been in talks with major video game companies on a new contract agreement that would cover voice and performance capture workers on titles from Disney Character Voices, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Warner Bros. Games, Insomniac Games and more.

Now, at an impasse over artificial intelligence concerns, the union’s chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland has called a strike.

“We’re not going to consent to a contract that allows companies to abuse AI to the detriment of our members. Enough is enough,” stated SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher. “When these companies get serious about offering an agreement our members can live — and work — with, we will be here, ready to negotiate.”

The move has been signaled for nearly a year. Last September, nearly 35,000 of the union’s members voted to authorize a strike (with 98 percent of members in favor) against the major gaming companies over the agreement, giving SAG-AFTRA’s leadership the leeway to call a work stoppage. The contract had expired on Nov. 7, 2022, and ever since, the union has been operating on a month-to-month basis with the companies.

The union has said that pay has not kept pace with inflation and it has unaddressed concerns about gaming companies’ use of artificial intelligence in the contracts of performers who make money using their voices and/or likenesses. On July 20, SAG-AFTRA’s national board voted to give authority to Crabtree-Ireland to call a strike. As of Saturday, the union said it was “far apart on resolution of necessary terms covering critical AI protections for video game performers.”

“Frankly, it’s stunning that these video game studios haven’t learned anything from the lessons of last year — that our members can and will stand up and demand fair and equitable treatment with respect to AI, and the public supports us in that,” added Crabtree-Ireland.

SAG-AFTRA is eight months removed from its historic 118-day actors strike against the major studios over a new three-year TV/Theatrical contract, which was ratified in December of last year and valued by the union at $1 billion.

“Eighteen months of negotiations have shown us that our employers are not interested in fair, reasonable AI protections, but rather flagrant exploitation,” stated Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating Committee chair Sarah Elmaleh. “We refuse this paradigm — we will not leave any of our members behind, nor will we wait for sufficient protection any longer.”