SAG-AFTRA Says 80 Video Games Agreed To Proposed AI Terms, A Blow For Major Developers Amid Strike

deadline.com:

SAG-AFTRA threw quite the punch in the ongoing fight over its Interactive Media Agreement on Thursday, revealing that 80 video games and developers have now signed tiered-budget or interim agreements with the union to continue hiring its performers amid the strike.

The studios who have agreed to SAG-AFTRA’s terms include Studio Wildcard and Little Bat Games, according to the union. The guild also said that some games that have finished production — and therefore would not be subject to this strike or need to sign a new agreement — have voluntarily signed an interim agreement to retroactively provide AI protections for those works. “These agreements signal that the video game companies in the collective bargaining group do not represent the will of the larger video game industry.

The many companies that are happy to agree to our A.I. terms prove that these terms are not only reasonable, but feasible and sustainable for businesses,” National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in a statement.

SAG-AFTRA did not provide a full list of companies had signed agreements, nor did it provide context on how many had signed an interim agreement versus a tiered-budget agreement.