Video game performers vote on contract that could end nearly 3-year
battle over AI
[July 09, 2025]
By ITZEL LUNA
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Results from a union member vote on a tentative
contract between video game performers and their employers are expected
Wednesday evening.
If ratified, the contract would formally end a nearly three-year effort
from Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio
Artists negotiators to obtain a new contract for video game performers.
The process, which included an 11-month strike against several major
game makers, hinged on how artificial intelligence would affect
performers in the industry.
If approved, the agreement will deliver pay raises, control over
performers' likenesses and artificial intelligence protections. The
contract was first reached in early June between the union and an
industry bargaining group consisting of several major video game
companies, including divisions of Activision and Electronic Arts. The
nearly year-long strike was suspended on June 11 and about 3,000 SAG-AFTRA
members covered by the interactive media agreement have had since June
18 to vote.
Results will be announced soon after the vote ends at 5 p.m. Pacific.
The 11-month strike “was a grueling and excruciating process, ” Duncan
Crabtree-Ireland, the SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief
negotiator said before the voting period closed.
“I hope and I believe that our members, when they look back on this,
will say all of the sacrifices and difficulty we put ourselves through
to achieve this agreement will ultimately be worth it because we do have
the key elements that we need to feel confident and moving forward in
this business,” Crabtree-Ireland said.
The new contract secures “industry-leading” AI protections, said Audrey
Cooling, a spokesperson for the video game producers involved in the
deal. The proposed contract delineates clear restrictions on when and
how video game companies can create digital replicas, which use AI to
generate new performances that weren’t recorded by an actor.
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SAG-AFTRA signage is seen on the side of the headquarters in Los
Angeles on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel,File)
 What's part of the tentative
video game performers contract
Employers must obtain written permission from a performer to create
a digital replica — consent which must be granted during the
performer’s lifetime and is valid after death unless otherwise
limited, the contract states.
The time spent creating a digital replica will be compensated as
work time, according to the agreement. The agreement also requires
the employer to provide the performer with a usage report that
details how the replica was used and calculates the expected
compensation.
The contract also secured an increase in performer compensation of
just over 15% upon ratification and an additional 3% increase each
year of the three-year contract.
Increasing awareness and knowledge about the new AI provisions among
union membership is crucial moving forward if the contract is
ratified, Sarah Elmaleh, a voice actor and chair of the union’s
interactive branch negotiating committee, told The Associated Press
before the voting period closed.
“Actually applying these guardrails in our work is going to take
members paying attention, understanding what they should look out
for, being engaged with their union and reporting things that look
fishy or that are actually violations,” she said.
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