SAG-AFTRA files unfair labor practice complaint against Epic over Fortnite's AI-powered Darth Vader: 'We must protect our right to bargain terms and conditions around uses of voice that replace the work of our members'

News
By published

SAG-AFTRA members have been striking over AI in videogames since July 2024.

Emperor Palpatine fires force lightning from his fingertips in Fortnite while a bunch of Fortnite guys look on.
(Image credit: Epic)

Last week, Epic was forced to deploy a hotfix to prevent Fortnite players from tricking its newly-added AI-powered Darth Vader from swearing and saying slurs with James Earl Jones's voice. Today, AI Vader is the source of yet another controversy: SAG-AFTRA has filed unfair labor practice charges against Epic Games, alleging that the Fortnite publisher's use of AI-generated voice constituted "unilateral changes" to terms and conditions of employment covered by union bargaining.

"We celebrate the right of our members and their estates to control the use of their digital replicas and welcome the use of new technologies to allow new generations to share in the enjoyment of those legacies and renowned roles," SAG-AFTRA said in a press release. "However, we must protect our right to bargain terms and conditions around uses of voice that replace the work of our members, including those who previously did the work of matching Darth Vader's iconic rhythm and tone in video games."

(Image credit: Epic)

Video game performers represented by SAG-AFTRA, which organizes collective workplace bargaining for more than 150,000 actors, journalists, singers, and other entertainment and media professionals, have been on strike since July 2024, when ongoing contract negotiations with videogame publishers and developers collapsed over AI protections.

Epic's implementation of Fortnite's AI-powered Vader arrived just days after it, alongside the other videogame companies involved in ongoing strike negotiations, issued a new contract offer to the union. The latest tentative contract removed a so-called "unlimited digital replica buyout"; essentially, under the new offer's terms, employers would agree to pay performers similar rates for any AI-generated replicas of their performance at similar rates to in-person work.

In its unfair labor practice filing with the NLRB, SAG-AFTRA alleges that Epic's use of AI-generated voices in Fortnite allowed the publisher to circumvent union bargaining about the terms of protected work.

By "utilizing AI-generated voices to replace bargaining unit work on the Interactive Program Fortnite," Epic "failed and refused to bargain in good faith with the union by making unilateral changes to terms and conditions of employment, without providing notice to the union or the opportunity to bargain," SAG-AFTRA said.

PC Gamer has reached out to Epic for a statement, and we'll update this story if we receive a reply.

Lincoln Carpenter
Lincoln Carpenter
News Writer

Lincoln has been writing about games for 12 years—unless you include the essays about procedural storytelling in Dwarf Fortress he convinced his college professors to accept. Leveraging the brainworms from a youth spent in World of Warcraft to write for sites like Waypoint, Polygon, and Fanbyte, Lincoln spent three years freelancing for PC Gamer before joining on as a full-time News Writer in 2024, bringing an expertise in Caves of Qud bird diplomacy, getting sons killed in Crusader Kings, and hitting dinosaurs with hammers in Monster Hunter.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.