Beneficiaries of AI use in game development according to U.S. and UK gamers 2023

Video gamers in the United States and the United Kingdom felt that while the adoption of generative AI tools in the video game industry was an overall good thing, individual creatives such as artists, voice actors, and writers were most likely to be negatively impacted. A March 2023 survey found that 49 percent of respondents were concerned that voice actors were likely to be harmed by the use of AI. In contrast, 69 percent of respondents felt that large game studios would likely benefit from such tools.

The threat of generative AI looms over the entertainment industry

These worries expressed by gamers are not unfounded - as of July 2023, Hollywood actors of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (more commonly known as SAG-AFTRA) have been striking over the use of AI in films and other issues. They are joining the ongoing strike of the Writers Guild of America (WGA), who have been striking since May 1st, 2023, about streaming residuals as well as the usage of AI in scriptwriting. The requests of the WGA include a ban on the use of AI for writing and rewriting source material, the use of AI as source materials, as well as a ban on training AI on WGA writers' work.

The 2016–2017 video game voice actor strike

Voice actors, including those who work on video games, are also part of the SAG-AFTRA. As artists who primarily work without their personal image being attached to their product, voice actors are particularly at risk of being exploited by studios. The 2016–2017 video game voice actor strike started in October 2016 by the SAG-AFTRA union against 11 major video game developers and publishers after failed contract renegotiation terms that had been in discussion since February 2015. The strike, which at its core was about the implementation of residuals based on video game sales as well as improved transparency about working conditions, lasted 340 days until a deal was reached on September 23, 2017. However, the agreement did not include residuals as SAG-AFTRA sought but did include a sliding-scale bonus payment for each recording session a voice actor participated in.

At the time of the 2016-2017 strike, about a quarter of video games used some type of acting, either as live actors or voice actors for full-motion capture or full-motion video, and this trend has only escalated since then. With the increasing prominence of the performance of video game actors in recent years, video game award shows now frequently feature Best Performance categories too. Despite this growing appreciation, voice actors still keenly feel the impact of industry trends.