On June 10, 2025, nearly a year after the picket lines first formed, SAG-AFTRA and some of the gaming industry’s biggest players struck a tentative agreement that could redefine how artificial intelligence is used in performance-driven game development. The contract, still awaiting full ratification, promises to install long-absent guardrails around the replication of performers’ voices and likenesses, closing a technological loophole that had grown increasingly contentious since generative AI entered mainstream production pipelines.
The strike, which began in July 2024, was not merely about wages or work conditions. It was a stand for human identity in an industry rapidly absorbing synthetic replication. Video game companies had begun using AI models to mimic actors’ voices and appearances, often trained on past performances without additional consent or compensation. The implications were chilling: a performer’s likeness could be rendered endlessly, even long after their involvement ended, leaving artists sidelined in favor of their own digital echoes.
This new agreement, according to insiders, requires developers and publishers to obtain explicit, informed consent for the training and reuse of biometric and vocal data. Performers will retain the right to approve or deny any future deployment of their AI replicas. Moreover, the contract outlines compensation structures for synthetic reuse, ensuring that value extracted through AI still flows back to the originators of that creative essence.