Llama Productions is feeling Force choked by the justice system this Monday after SAG-AFTRA filed an unfair labor practice charge against Fortnite, alleging the studio’s use of an AI-powered James Earl Jones Darth Vader voice in the money-printing, live-service battle royale video game platform. Per the suit, SAG-AFTRA says the supposed use of AI infringes on the union’s right to negotiate significant changes to its collective bargaining agreement. The situation gets muddier as SAG-AFTRA says Llama Productions made “unilateral” changes to terms and conditions of employment when Fortnite used an AI-powered Darth Vader voice on Friday without giving the union a heads-up or time to negotiate the tool’s implementation.
In the complaint to the National Labor Relations Board, SAG-AFTRA says using generative AI undermines “bargaining unit work,” meaning actual voice actors could have played the part of Vader in the free-to-play-but-nigh-impossible-not-to-spent-money-on battle royale experience.
The root of SAG-AFTRA’s complaint stems from ongoing concerns about using AI across the entertainment spectrum. The union is currently involved in an Interactive Media Agreement strike, which targets AI protection for video game voice actors. To be clear, SAG-AFTRA workers can contribute to the game, but arrangements need to happen before participation is approved. Parties would need to grant a deal before a specific date. In Fortnite’s case, that date is August 2023.
In the case of Fortnite, which uses Darth Vader as an NPC and (earnable) playable character, The Walt Disney Co. and Epic Games say the arrangements to use Jones’s voice were made in “close consultation” with the actor’s estate.
“Ask him all your pressing questions about the Force, the Galactic Empire … or you know, a good strat for the last Storm circle. The Sith Lord has opinions,” Fortnite wrote in a blog post about interacting with the menacing villain of the Empire.
SAG-AFTRA is fighting tooth and nail to establish fair arrangements for its union members and the studios/companies they wish to work with. Allegedly side-stepping the process to launch your annual in-game Star Wars event for a “Galactic Battle” marketing push could be considered a step too far in a court of law. The jury remains out on this, but we’re watching the situation closely.