Video game performers are becoming Hollywood stars in their own right − and are on strike to be paid and protected accordingly

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

James Dawes, Macalester College

(THE CONVERSATION) Hollywood screenwriters went on strike in May 2023. Two months later, actors joined them on the picket line. Those strikes ended later that year with historic deals that included, for the first time, protections regarding the use of artificial intelligence. Now it’s video game actors’ turn.

After nearly two years of negotiations with gaming companies, video game performers, who are represented by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists union, announced that they would go on strike due to an impasse over protections from generative AI. The strike began at 12:01 a.m. on July 26, 2024.

The Conversation U.S. asked James Dawes, a scholar of video game narration, about the role voice actors have traditionally played in this industry and the threat that AI could pose to these performers.

What is this strike about?

The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists voted to authorize a strike, with an overwhelming 98.32% of the union’s members voting “Yes.”

SAG-AFTRA’s 160,000 members will refuse to work on video games produced by the industry’s major developers...