SAG-AFTRA challenges Epic Games over Darth Vader AI in Fortnite

SAG-AFTRA, the labour union for American actors, has criticised Epic’s addition of a Darth Vader AI chatbot in Fortnite, and accused the company of unfair labor practices.

Fortnite added the Darth Vader chatbot with its latest season, which allows players to interact with the character, who will respond with the iconic voice of late actor James Earl Jones.

Epic says Jones’s AI-powered voice was used with permission from his family. However, SAG-AFTRA argues that the tool still takes work away from other actors who could’ve voiced the character in his video game form.

“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,” it said in a statement.

“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.”

SAG-AFTRA goes on to accuse Fortnite’s signatory company, Llama Productions, of choosing to “replace the work of human performers with A.I. technology”.

“Unfortunately, they did so without providing any notice of their intent to do this and without bargaining with us over appropriate terms. As such, we have filed an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB against Llama Productions.”

Epic is yet to respond to SAG-AFTRA’s statement.

SAG-AFTRA started a strike last summer after it said it had failed to negotiate acceptable protections around the use of AI for its members.

The strike remains active, meaning video game companies and their performance production arms – with the exception of those who have already signed agreements with SAG-AFTRA – likely won’t be able to hire unionised actors to perform motion capture or voiceover work for their games.