Lightspeed L.A. signs SAG-AFTRA agreement against AI

Triple AAA studio Lightspeed L.A. becomes the first to accept the SAG-AFTRA Interim Interactive Media Agreement, assuring video game actors their work won’t be threatened by AI.

In a statement posted on the SAG-AFTRA website, Lightspeed L.A. announced that their commitment to SAG-AFTRA’s goals and that there “was never any hesitation to consider the performer protections that anchor this agreement.”

This agreement is binding for this and future projects for the studio. With this, the studio has doubled down on its anti-AI protection for the foreseeable future.

Now, despite the ongoing strike, SAG-AFTRA video game actors can work on Lightspeed L.A.’s game, Last Sentinel.

Ironically, Last Sentinel is set in a dystopian tech-fused world— it seems that creating a virtual tech-hell is enough for Lightspeed L.A., with no interest in bringing it into the real world.

Founded in 2020, Lightspeed L.A. is the first American branch of the Tencent-owned Lightspeed studios. The studio also boasts a focus on open-world games with “thoughtful storytelling.”

Accepting SAG-AFTRA’s demands will ensure the employment of many actors with a livable wage without fear of AI-caused redundancies.

Despite the good news, Lightspeed L.A. is only a small positive drop in a big bucket of Triple AAA letdowns.

But “Video Games Don’t Really Have Acting,” Right?

While every victory must be celebrated, it’s important to remember that industry giants are still against protecting video game actors from AI.

Ever since the SAG-AFTRA strikes started in July, talks have been held with Activision, EA, Insomniac, WB Games, and more. Thousands of actors went on strike to protest their “work and likenesses are being exploited by artificial intelligence.”

While all AI-caused redundancies are bad, involuntarily training your replacement just adds insult to injury.

While actors were losing out on thousands of dollars while protesting, Amazon Games’ CEO, Christoph Hartmann, proudly claimed that “video games don’t really have acting.”

After facing a lot of criticism because of the CEO’s statement, Amazon Games issued a clarification via spokesperson afterward. Despite calling video game actors “essential creative contributors,” they didn’t engage in talks with SAG-AFTRA afterward.

As the strike goes on, Lightspeed L.A.’s landmark decision, and the positive press they received, might convince some studios to budge a little. Still, a compromise could be caused by lost capital due to the strikes rather than a willingness to pay livable wages and give out AI protections, and might not be fully beneficial for actors.

While it’s only one studio now, it might snowball later. In the meantime, in a sea of letdowns and mediocre games that might as well be AI-made, we can look forward to one made fully by real humans.