Feed: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Feed Link: https://www.engadget.com/
---

Title: SAG-AFTRA says Fortnite's AI Darth Vader voice violates fair labor
practices

Date: Mon, 19 May 2025 20:20:09 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/gaming/sag-aftra-say...

SAG-AFTRA, the labor union representing performers in film, television and
interactive media, has submitted an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) filing
against Epic Games for using an AI-generated version of Darth Vader's voice
in the current season of Fortnite. Disney and Epic first announced on May 16
that Fortnite would feature a take on the character using an AI-generated
version of James Earl Jones' voice.

The issue in SAG-AFTRA's eyes is that the union is currently on strike while
it negotiates a new contract with video game companies, and using an AI-
generated voice represents Epic refusing to "bargain in good faith." The AI-
powered version of Darth Vader is interactive, but that doesn't change the
fact that the video game version of Darth Vader has frequently been played by
actors other than Jones.

Disney got permission from Jones and his family to use AI to replicate his
voice for film and TV in 2022, so there is precedent for an AI performance of
this kind. After Jones' death in September 2024, the AI route technically
became the only way to use Darth Vader's "original voice," other than reusing
clips of past performances. Unless of course Epic or Disney wanted to pay
another actor to play Darth Vader, which would require coming to an agreement
on a new contract for video game performers.

ULP filings are reviewed by the National Labor Review Board and can lead to
hearings and injunctive relief (a court ordering Epic to remove Darth Vader
from the game until a settlement is reached, for example). They are also
often used as a way for unions to provoke companies to come back to the
bargaining table or respond with a more realistic offer. SAG-AFTRA's
Interactive Media Strike has been ongoing since July 26, 2024. SAG-AFTRA
members originally voted in favor of a strike in September 2023 for better
wages and AI protections.

Engadget has reached out to both Disney and Epic for comment on SAG-AFTRA's
ULP filing. We'll update this article if we hear back.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/gaming/sag-aftra-say...
violates-fair-labor-practices-202009163.html?src=rss

---
VRSS v2.1.180528