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The video game actor strike has entered its second week, and there appears to be no progress in returning to the bargaining table. SAG-AFTRA—the union representing approximately 160,000 actors, performers, and other professions across the entertainment industry—walked away from negotiations with several video game publishers over what they deemed unacceptable terms regarding the use of artificial intelligence in video game productions. The strike began on Friday, July 26. The stalemate stemmed from the limited protections against AI offered by video game studios, which extended them to only some actors, according to SAG-AFTRA Chief Contract Officer Ray Rodriguez, who noted that “there are multiple open issues on the subject of AI.” “Some of the most significant issues have to do with the scope of the protection that is afforded,” Rodriguez told Decrypt. “Up until Wednesday of last week, the producers’ position was explicit that they were only interested in offering these protections to voice performers and not to on-camera performers.” The video game industry also utilizes stunt, movement, and creature performers, he explained, whose voices are not necessarily involved in the production, and are being left out. The strike affects video game producers like Activision Productions, Electronic Arts Productions, Epic Games, and Warner Bros. Games. Rodriguez said the contract now being offered by game publishers offered some protections for on-camera performers, but with exceptions that undermine these protections for both on-camera and voice actors. “For example, in order to qualify for the protection that’s being offered, a digital replica of a performer must be under the terms that management has offered, identifiable as that performer,” Rodriguez said. “If you think about how video games are made, if I’m doing stunt work that is being used to animate a soldier, that soldier is probably not going to look like me.” He added that…

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Filed under: News - @ August 7, 2024 1:08 am