Video game performers prepared to strike for more pay, protections

Activision Blizzard

26/09/2023 11:00

By Danielle Broadway
       LOS ANGELES, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Cissy Jones isn't
asking to be paid millions of dollars to give video games their
voice, but the actor, and others like her performing under a
Screen Actors Guild's video game contract say they need more
money to cope with rising costs of living.  
    "We haven't had a raise in five years, four years maybe, and
prices have gone up. Our rates have not," said Jones, a BAFTA
winner for her voice as Delilah in the Campo Santo video game
"Firewatch". Jones is covered under a contract with video game
makers negotiated by SAG-AFTRA.
    Voice actors and motion capture performers in the
multi-billion dollar video game industry voted overwhelmingly on
Monday to authorize a strike if negotiations on a new labor
contract set to begin Tuesday fail, setting the stage for
another possible work stoppage in Hollywood.
    SAG-AFTRA said 34,687 members cast ballots, 27.47% of
eligible voters.
    SAG-AFTRA is the same union representing film and television
actors who went on strike in July, putting Hollywood in the
midst of two simultaneous work stoppages for the first time in
more than six decades.
    In May, roughly 11,500 Writers Guild of America members had
walked off the job. The writers union reached a preliminary
labor agreement with major studios on Sunday. 
    The SAG-AFTRA agreement covering video game performers
expired last November and has been extended on a monthly basis 
as the union negotiated with major video game companies.
    "We all want a fair contract that reflects the important
contributions of SAG-AFTRA-represented performers in an industry
that delivers world-class entertainment to billions of gamers
around the world," spokesperson Audrey Cooling said in a
statement issued on behalf of the companies.
    
    AI CONCERNS
    The video game industry generated total revenues of $180.3
billion in 2021 and is expected to generate revenues of $218.8
billion by 2024, according to data analytics firm Newzoo.
    With video game console sales up in 2023, PlayStation maker
Sony said in July it expects to sell 25 million units of PS5
consoles this year, a record for any PlayStation device.
    As earnings climbed, video game company staff beyond the
performers covered by SAG-AFTRA have been unionizing for the
first time this year.
    In July, Sega workers formed the largest multi-department
video game union in the United States, after Microsoft's video
game testers formed their first U.S. labor union in January. 
    Along with pay, video performers represented by SAG-AFTRA
say the most pressing issues being negotiated include getting
Disney, Activision, EA, Epic Games and others to consult
performers over the use of artificial intelligence to create
voices, something some of the companies are already doing.
     AI has been an issue for writers as well for striking
actors covered by TV, theatrical and streaming contracts.
    For video game performers, the union is also calling for
more safety measures for motion capture performers, who wear
markers or sensors on the skin or a body suit to help game
makers create characters' movements.  
    "These are folks that work in games a ton. They do stunts
but also they will perform on stage as different characters,
embody the characters, memorize dialogue to get timing correctly
and that kind of thing," said actor Ashly Burch, who has done
motion capture as well as voice work for video games.
    The union is asking for on-camera performers to have the
same five minutes per hour rest period that off-camera
performers are entitled to, SAG-AFTRA said in a statement on its
website.
    They are also asking for a set medic to be present at
dangerous stunts, just as on film and television sets. 
    For Jones, the power of AI became evident 18 months ago when
she saw that a fan had created videos on social media platform
TikTok that included a scene from the animated Disney channel
show she voiced "The Owl House".
    "They were using an AI version of my voice in these fan
scenes," she said.
    "I panicked," she said. "This is my only means of making
money. This is the only way that I work right now. This is how I
feed my children and put them through school. Someone had taken
my voice without my consent."

 (Reporting by Danielle Broadway; editing by Donna Bryson and
Miral Fahmy)
 ((Danielle.Broadway@thomsonreuters.com;))