Lightspeed L.A. reaches agreement with SAG-AFTRA on AI Protections

Lightspeed L.A., a new game development studio under Tencent’s Lightspeed & Quantum Studio group, has inked an agreement with the Screen Actors Guild, known as SAG-AFTRA, on implementing AI protections for their upcoming games.

The agreement, reached today after negotiations between Lightspeed L.A. and SAG-AFTRA representatives, lets Lightspeed utilize and hire union actors for performances within Lightspeed’s in-development and future games. This permits Lightspeed L.A. to continue using union workers even if SAG-AFTRA itself is on strike, which the guild voted to do just over a month ago.

Said strike is over the use of generative AI in video game products, which threatens to replace work done by actors. Lightspeed L.A. is implementing protections that the union had asked for, but the parties are currently not making specifics public beyond that a deal has been made.

Lightspeed L.A. is currently working on Last Sentinel, a neo-futuristic apocalyptic game that — with a small hint of irony — takes place against the backdrop of technology run amok. Last Sentinel was revealed for the first time with a CG trailer at The Game Awards in 2023. The deal struck with SAG-AFTRA applies to Last Sentinel and future projects from the studio as well.