SAG-AFTRA members have voted to ratify the new interactive media agreement negotiated after an 11-month strike against video game developers and recording companies that were signatory to the contract.
The union announced on Wednesday that 95.04% of members voted in favor of ratification.
“I commend the strong leadership of Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating Chair Sarah Elmaleh, who remained steadfast through three years of hard bargaining while facing many challenging headwinds during a challenging negotiation cycle,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in a statement. “This deal achieves important progress around A.I. protections, and progress is the name of the game! My sincere respect goes out to the entire video game performer community and their allies for their solidarity during the strike which provided the necessary leverage to secure this deal’s many essential gains.”
Unlike SAG-AFTRA’s 2023 TV/Theatrical strike, which had a variety of factors that led to the 118-day stoppage, the 320-day IMA strike was spurred solely by artificial intelligence, as the union’s bargaining committee did not feel that the companies provided terms that would ensure that performers would have the transparency needed to give their informed consent, if they wished, for companies to make digital replicas of their performances and likeness.
As part of the new deal, companies are required to inform performers about all the ways in which AI is planned to be used on their voice, likeness and movements and have their written consent to use the technology. Performers also have the ability to suspend consent of companies to use AI to create replicas of their work during a strike.
“All of us at SAG-AFTRA would like to extend our deepest appreciation to the video game performers and allies who endured a great deal of sacrifice throughout the 11-month strike,” SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in another statement. “I’d also like to express my sincerest gratitude to the Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating Committee and its chair, Sarah Elmaleh, who have worked tirelessly for nearly three years in order to achieve these necessary gains and protections alongside our negotiating staff and lead negotiator Ray Rodriguez. Now that the agreement is ratified, video game performers will be able to enjoy meaningful gains and important A.I. protections, which we will continue to build on as uses of this technology settle and evolve.”
Audrey Cooling, a spokesperson for the video game producers party to the agreement, added, “We are pleased that SAG-AFTRA members have ratified a new Interactive Media Agreement, which delivers historic wage increases, industry-leading A.I. protections, and enhanced health and safety measures for performers. We look forward to building on our industry’s decades-long partnership with the union and continuing to create groundbreaking entertainment experiences for billions of players worldwide.”
Minimum rates will also be established for the use of digital replicas created with union-covered performances. If those performances are created for the purpose of “real-time generation” — i.e., creating a digital replica-voiced chatbot in a video game — the performer is entitled to at least 7.5x that minimum scale. Developers are also required to send performers that consent to AI usage a report detailing how their replica was used and which calculates their compensation.
Due to clauses in the previous IMA that exempted video games developed and released prior to the start of the strike, the impact of the strike on the video game industry wasn’t as widely felt as the 2023 TV/film strikes, where all Hollywood production was shut down.
But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t an impact. Riot Games announced this past December that skins in their popular game “League of Legends” would not come with new voice lines due to the strike. Famed developer Hideo Kojima also noted that his upcoming horror game “OD,” which he co-wrote with Jordan Peele and stars “It” actress Sophia Lillis, would be delayed due to the strike.
