Hollywood Actors to Go on Strike Against Video Game Companies

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The SAG-AFTRA actors’ union on Thursday called a strike against video game companies that use actors’ images or voices in games, echoing its broader strike against television and movie studios last year. The strike will start at 12:01 a.m. Pacific time on Friday, after more than a year and a half of negotiations. Until the latest strike is resolved, members of the 160,000-person union will no longer “act” in video games produced by Activision Blizzard, WB Games, Electronic Arts and seven other companies covered by an interactive-media agreement. The agreement expired in November 2022, and last summer the union terminated an extension. SAG-AFTRA’s demands are similar to those it sought from television and movie studios last year: higher wages and job protections from the threat of artificial intelligence. “We’re not going to consent to a contract that allows companies to abuse A.I. to the detriment of our members,” Fran Drescher, the union’s president, said in a statement. “Enough is enough.”