Game voice actors have been left reeling after claiming SAG-AFTRA agreed to a “garbage” deal.
The union had been striking for months alongside the Writer’s Guild of America last year, in which industry insiders campaigned for better pay and fairer treatment.
Game voice actors voted overwhelmingly to join the strike in September, but some were reportedly left blindsided after the union agreed to let companies use AI voices without paying the actors.
“Excuse me? With all due respect … you state in the article ‘Approved by affected members of the union’s voiceover performer community.’ Nobody in our community approved this that I know of. Games are the bulk of my livelihood and have been for years. Who are you referring to? (sic)” Steve Blum wrote on X (now Twitter), who has voiced roles in titles like ‘Batman Arkham Asylum’ and ‘Deadpool.’
“Every voice actor I know not only didn’t approve this, they pretty much heard about this for the first time today on Twitter.” Fellow voice actor Young Yea, who has performed in Call of Duty: Modern ‘Warfare III’ and ‘Spider-Man 2,’agreed with Steve and tweeted.
‘World of Warcraft’ voice actor Andrew Russell labeled it “garbage”.
The union has defended the deal and said that it “marks an important step towards the ethical use of AI voices in creative projects by game developers, and sets the basis for fair and equitable employment of voice actors as they explore the new revenue opportunities provided by AI.”
