Analytic Dreamz: Notorious Mass Effect - "SAG-AFTRA VIDEO GAME STRIKE - EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW"

Episode Date: September 14, 2023

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/AnalyticIn this episode of "Notorious Mass Effect" hosted by Analytic Dreamz, listeners are taken deep into the heart of the entertainment industry's labor strife as SAG-AFTRA members prepare for a crucial vote on whether to authorize a potential strike against video game companies. This dramatic development comes in the wake of a mid-July strike by the union's film and TV actors, who have united with Writers Guild of America-represented screenwriters in a display of solidarity. Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Say it ain't so. At first, with a strike only being the actors and writers, I thought us video game connoisseurs were safe. But in a turn, a recent turn of events, SAG AFRA, which is the Writers Union, I believe, will vote on whether to authorize a strike against video game companies following the extension. of their contract, which has been pending for nearly a year. So basically the writers and the actors was like, hey, these studios are not taking a serious enough, which if you look up, strikes, not strikes, studios start hiring for AI, notorious mass

effect should pop up, or you can just type in studios hiring AI specialist, and it should definitely pop up for my podcast. I already covered it like a week or two ago. But anyways, if you want to hear more on that aspect of why they're not even trying to negotiate with the writers or actors, studios just out here like, hey, since they ain't trying to comply, let's just go out and start paying people to use artificial intelligence. I was like, dang, that's crazy. So speaking on that, the union is seeking wage increases and protections against the use of artificial AI in video games. so not only is it any form of media when it comes to tv shows movies and things of that nature writing

you know there's like pre-production storyboarding all type of stuff that the evolution of ai's is infiltrating the creative space of those writers which is in turn depriving them of a lot of jobs so now that the studios don't want to play ball with the sag aftra or the wGA SACAFTRA has taken upon themselves to start targeting the video game members, not like targeting in a bad way, just like helping them going to strike. As SACAFstra's last contract with video game companies negotiated in 2017, did not address key issues related to AI. Basically, all these members want to know is that are you going to use this AI technology

to replace me. And if so, we have a problem. And guess what the studios basically said? We might. We'll think about it. We'll take your concern into consideration. They basically told them that, you know, they ain't going to stop using AI.

So now people aren't strike. Well, not people. Writers and actors are on strike for the first time in history since like the 1960s, I believe. So anyways, back to the current contract. So SAG AFR's last. contract with video game companies negotiating in 2017 did not address key issues related to AI which has become a concern in the entertainment

industry so the potential strike would be the first since October 2016 was SAC after targeted 11 companies including divisions of Activision Blizzard Electronic Arts and you can look all this stuff up so what I'm saying whatever I'm saying right now, you could definitely look up. So their strike for video games will be the first since October 2016 when SAG AFRA targeted 11 companies such as Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Take 2, Insomniac Games, Warner Bros, and Disney. And the union is looking to secure a member-approved strike authorization

before bargaining resumes on September 26. So basically they're trying to up the ante and show the studios. They ain't playing around. Y'all better increase all pay. Are we going to increase these number of people we have striking? And that's basically what we're at. So now they're targeting the video game members and about to authorize them to strike.

And it's all due to the concerns about the unregulated use of AI. obviously a lot of people are like it's because of streaming nobody's getting paid from streaming the numbers are all over the place which is also true I mean when Scarlet Hope well I almost call it something else

with Scarlett Joe Hanson I wonder if y'all caught that that's kind of funny when Scarlett Joe Hanson sued Disney ended up reaching a settlement with them over Black Widow going like a week or two after straight to Disney

Plus after it was like so basically there's certain things called points or whatever i don't know i don't know everything about that whole points field and when it comes to movies like i'll go to grace randolph beyond a trailer if you want to listen or learn about that but in general what i do know is that scarlet johansson's contract was for movies when it went to streaming it was a little now little it was a lot of gray area to the point when scarlet johansen sued disney so now disney had to come to a settlement because of the gray area and the contract

and Scarlett Johansson ended up winning and that was a big turning point I think once Scarlett Johansson won people realized that hey we have an actual case when it comes to this streaming royalties and how we're getting paid

so that's just my personal opinion like in general you can look up the whole Scarlett Johansson versus Disney is a real thing obviously you can look up after and them initiating and authorizing the strike for video game companies or against video game companies. And it's all due to unregulated use of AI and wage increases in safety provisions for performers.

Yeah. I think it's basically, I don't want to spend too much time on it because it's pretty straightforward for most people. I think at the end of the day, you have to get to a place where. you start paying attention to these type of things because you're going to start realizing that it's going to affect your not everyday life but it's going to start affecting your entertainment you're going to wonder why is your favorite tv show taking the two-year hiatus instead of one and this is currently why so now it's attacking video games and it's unfortunate

because in general i really do enjoy video games and i think that when you get into a video game land It's a very It's the purest form of escapeism Which is like Leaving what you're currently Dealing with to play a video game Whether it's in a good or bad way Like it doesn't have to be like a bad old

I had a bad day It could be oh I had a good day Let me escape into this The world of Mass Effect or the world of Star Wars Like it's a very nice Escapism when it comes to A video game So for it to be taken away

I don't know how I feel about it. Obviously, I'm not an actor. I'm not a writer, so maybe I don't feel more emotional about it if that was the case. But at this point in time, I don't believe that video game should be affected. But it seems like because of the studio's unwillingness to increase wages and not use AI in certain ways, we may have a certain war, a civil war on our hands when it comes to every actor. and every writer in the studios. Because if you don't know, it's just the states. So actors overseas, like one of the actors, Melissa Ford off of Joe Budden podcast, she basically is still acting, but in Canada because she's part of the Canada Union,

not the United States. So not all actors is just boycotting. So if you see certain overseas actors going back to the country to act, hey, technically, you know, they can. So at the end of the day, we're going to see how messy this gets, but it's getting pretty messy. because now they're including video game companies. And as you see,

Insomnia Games is on the list, which is a whole other conversation in itself because they are currently giving me some of the best video game Marvel content I've ever played. So with Wolverine and whatever the unknown game, they're also developing set to come out soon.

That's probably going to get delayed. I definitely don't think Spider-Man's going to get delayed. I believe that game's been gold. And gold is like when a game's ready to launch. so I don't think that game would get delayed at all but Wolverine and whatever the game whatever the future game they're working on that's a Marvel project

that they're not telling us what it is that may end up can't delay but anyways click my link to your in my bio let me know one of my social media's what do y'all think of just insomnia games in general and the way

that was that was not the question my fault all right anyways let me let me start so act like you didn't hear that you ain't hear that at all right okay click my link to my bio and let me know one of my social medias what do you think about sac after now targeting video game developers with their strike and if you're a gamer how do you feel about this entire situation