The SAG-AFTRA video game actor strike continues, and one of the key points of the dispute remains protection against AI. Today, the union has sent out a message denouncing the potential of "AI abuse" in the latest contract negotiations, but in a recent interview at least one prominent figure in the performance capture world is confident that AI can't truly replace human performances "anytime soon."
"There's no doubt that the industry is going through a challenging time," Steve Kniebihly, a performance capture director who worked on the likes of Heavy Rain, The Witcher 3's DLC packs, and Resident Evil Village, tells Entertainment Weekly. "Layoffs, budget cuts, and uncertainty have made it clear that nothing is guaranteed – even for successful studios. To me, what makes this job interesting in the first place is that weird, intangible chemistry between an actor and a director. It's the trust at the core of that relationship that pushes everyone to give the best of themselves and creates more than the sum of its parts. And I'm not going to get that from A.I. anytime soon."
While Kniebihly is confident AI can't replace the quality performance you get from a real actor, the gaming industry seems keen to protect its ability to build AI simulacrums of human performers. SAG-AFTRA's negotiations with the game industry have been ongoing since the strike began in 2024, and the union is unhappy with what ground big publishers are willing to give here.
"Though progress has been made and agreements have been reached on certain provisions since we launched our strike last year, the last proposal the bargaining group made is still filled with alarming loopholes that will leave our members vulnerable to AI abuse," SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland told members in a message also shared with Eurogamer. "The union recently submitted a counter to this proposal that diligently addresses all of the loopholes and would result in a contract that offers the minimum protections our members need in order to maintain sustainable careers as video game performers."
For their part, negotiators representing the game industry say they've offered "industry-leading terms of use for AI digital replicas in-game and additional compensation for the use of an actor's performance in other games."
Some SAG-AFTRA actors work with at least some non-union contracts, but many have elected to suspend that work until the strike against the wider industry is resolved. Such is the case with the voice of Zenless Zone Zero's Soldier 11, Emeri Chase, who was recently replaced in the role, saying "I found out the role was recast today alongside all of you."
As game actors strike for AI protections, Amazon Games boss says we need more AI and it's not "taking work away" because "for games, we don't really have acting."
