Hollywood video game voice actors have signed a new contract with a focus on AI, according to the actors' union SAG-AFTRA.
Around 2,5000 members of SAG-AFTRA were involved in the strike against 10 of the biggest gaming companies, including Activision and Electronic Arts.
According to the union, 95% of the members voted in favour of the new Interactive Media Agreement, which included AI guardrails as well as pay and health protections.
"AI was the centrepiece of our proposal package," video game voice actor and member of the negotiation committee Sarah Elmaleh told Reuters after the new agreement passed.
The agreement includes a compounded interest in performer compensation of 15.17% upon ratification, plus additional 3% increase in November 2025, November 2026 and November 2027.
The overtime rate maximum for over-scale performers will also be doubled based on scale.
Health and retirement rates for the AFTRA Retirement Fund will also increase from 16.5% to 17% and then to 17.5% in October 2026.
In protection of performers' health, the contract also offers more safety measures for motion caption performers.
"There are folks who not only give their voices to these characters, but their bodies, and they put their bodies on the line for these characters," Elmaleh said.
The contract also increases AI guardrails by including content and disclosure requirements for AI digital replica use and the ability for performers to suspend consent for the generation of new material during a strike.
SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said this deal achieves important progress around AI protections.
“I commend the strong leadership of Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating Chair Sarah Elmaleh, who remained steadfast through three years of hard bargaining while facing many challenging headwinds during a challenging negotiation cycle,” Drescher said.
“My sincere respect goes out to the entire video game performer community and their allies for their solidarity during the strike which provided the necessary leverage to secure this deal’s many essential gains.”
