BBC Newsbeat
The video game players voted to end a one -year strike on artificial intelligence protections (AI).
About 2,500 members of the US SAG-AFTRA Union participated in the action against 10 of the largest companies in the industry, including Activision and Electronic Arts.
The two parties had spent months preventing an agreement on the use of AI to reproduce the performance of an actor – and the “railings” to prevent this from happening.
The union said that 95% of people who voted had supported the agreement, which also included changes in remuneration and health and safety protection.
The two parties had already been locked in negotiations for about 18 months when the strike began last July.
At the time, Sag-Aftra said they had agreed 24 out of 25, but the collision point used AI to reproduce human performance.
The large barrier was a disagreement on movement capture actors whose work was processed as “data” rather than a performance.
In a statement published after the vote to end the strike, the union said that a new contract has obtained “consent and disclosure requirements for DIY replicas of the AI”.
Artists can also withdraw their consent in the event of future strikes, he said.
Audrey Cooling, spokesperson for video game companies, a merchant with Sag-Aftra, said that they were “delighted” with members had approved a new interactive media agreement.
She said it included “historical wage increases, IA protections at the head of industry and improved health and safety measures for artists”.
Ashly Burch is a video game actor known for his performances under the name of Tiny Tina in the Borderlands and Chloé series in Adventure Game Life is strange.
Addressing BBC Newsbeat after the suspension of the strike so that the members could vote, Ashly said that the artists did not want a total prohibition of AI in the development of games.
“We just don’t want to be replaced by this,” she said.
She said that AI was “undoubtedly a greater threat to voice and movement artists” than the actors of cinema and television, and the main objective of the strike was the guarantees of “consent, transparency and compensation”.
“Basically, you need to get our consent to make a digital replica of us,” she said.
“You have to tell us how you will use it, then you have to compensate for us fairly.”
One of the best -known characters of Ashly – Aloy in the Horizon series of Sony – has become a subject of discussion during the strike when a prototype character fueled by the AI disclosed.
She said that fans’ response to the model – who showed that the character was responding to the guests of a player – was reassuring.
“For a person, everyone was like” I don’t want AI performance in my games, “she added.
Ashly has also worked on live projects such as the Apple TV Show Mythic Quest and its recent Web series, I am happy that you are here, focused on mental health.
She said that the two reminded her what human beings can bring to a role.
“And it is, for me, as a person who loves games and loves art, is the great risk of AI, that we are going to lose really interesting and evocative performances.”
The strike of video game players did not affect the whole industry and mainly applied to workers and projects based in the United States.
And unlike the Strike Hollywood in 2023, video game interpreters were still able to work with companies that have signed intermediate concerns about AI.
The veterans of the actors of the Robbie Daymond voice and Ray Chase, who created their own game studio, told BBC Newsbeat that the arrangement allowed them to continue working on their first outing, date Everthing!
The game presents a cast of around 70 well -known artists who were able to work on the project thanks to the interim agreement.
But Robbie, who appeared in Final Fantasy 15 and various animated series, said that it was a difficult year for artists in the United States.
“It was a long strike, and it had a strong impact for all those involved,” he said.
Robbie says he is aware of people whose income has taken a hit in an industry where many artists make short stays on several projects.
“I just hope that people understand that when a strike has been taking place for so long and people talk about gravity for them, it has a real human impact,” he said.
Ray underlines that the players in the voice had the opportunity to take work outside video games, but the strike was particularly difficult for actors specializing in motion capture.
“If you came to Los Angeles to be a motion capture actor, then your whole existence is threatened by AI,” he said.
“These guys are heroes to go out for so long.”
Ray also underlines that the strike will have affected video game developers if they were unable to hire actors so easily.
“Strikes are never easy to work.
“We are so happy that we have found a peaceful resolution, that’s for sure.”
