SAG-AFTRAactors union successfully ended negotiations after almost a year of striking, with a new contract—the Interactive Media Agreement—which protects voice actors and performance capture artists from a wide range of concerns. The contract includes major developers andpublishers like Electronic Arts and Activision, among others, and both sides have reached an agreement.
AI’s rise has profound implications for voice actorsin gaming: studios can now generate realistic character voices without recording sessions, which threatens many artists' jobs as well as creative authenticity. Last year, SAG‑AFTRA launched a strike focused on major video game studios, demanding protections against unchecked AI use. Voice and motion-capture actors argued that developers could train AI on their performances and use digital replicas without consent or fair pay, and after nearly 11 months, a tentative deal was reached in June 2025. This strike wasn’t just about pay—it was about preserving artistic integrity and setting industry standards for ethical AI use.
Following thetentative agreement SAG-AFTRA reached in June, the contract has now been ratified. The agreement includes immediate and annual pay increases, new safety measures (with qualified medical professionals at rehearsals and performances), AI provisions that require informed consent, usage transparency, compensation for digital replicas, and the right to pause AI use during future strikes—establishing a legal framework where actor voices remain human-led unless they choose otherwise.
SAG-AFTRA Actors Union Secures Contract Protecting Performers From AI
The new contract was successfully approved by the majority of the union, with 95 percent voting in favor and 5 percent opposing. SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said the new agreement makes important progress around theuse of AI in video games, and offered her respects to “the entire video game performer community” during the long process that took many months but was essential to what the union achieved.
The video game companies involved in the negotiations with voice actors expressed their satisfaction with the agreement. The companies’ spokesperson, Audrey Cooling, said they want to build a partnership with the union in order to continue creating “groundbreaking entertainment experiences” for players.
This is a very meaningful victory for voice actors, especially considering that just a few months ago,SAG-AFTRA rejected a new proposalmainly because it gave video game producers the rights to use voice performances to train AI without permission or compensation for the actors involved. With the rapid advancement of AI, it’s uncertain how things will evolve moving forward, and whether the agreement will need to be revised at some point in the future, but it sets a good precedent for the video game performer community.
