GTA 6 won’t be affected by the ongoing video game actor strike over protections against AI

GTA 6 is unaffected by the newly called video game voice actors strike because it’s been in production for more than a year.

Yesterday, it was announced by SAG-AFTRA that video game actors represented by the organization are set to strike against a number of developers and publishers to secure better protections against AI. The strike will commence today, July 26, and cover companies included in the Interactive Media Agreement, like Activision, EA, and Take-Two Productions.

However, a litany of in-development video games appear to be unaffected by the strike, including Take-Two’s GTA 6. According to a SAG-AFTRA statement obtained by Kotaku reporter Ethan Gach, games that have been in production for a year or more, and live service games, won’t be affected by the strike, and it’s safe to say GTA 6 has been in development for a lot longer than that.

SAG-AFTRA specifically confirmed that GTA 6 is unaffected by the voice actor’s strike, as reported by Gach on Twitter. Any SAG-AFTRA-associated voice actors that are currently working on Rockstar’s game will be allowed to continue working as normal while the strike goes on.

“Due to certain provisions in the IMA [Interactive Media Agreement] contract, games that were in production at the time that the union provided the company its notice of termination are not currently subject to strike order. Most notices were sent in September 2022,” SAG-AFTRA states, which explains the one-year development rule for in-production games.

“We served a separate notice relating to live service games, which we can strike in less than 60 days. We will update the membership if we expand the strike order to include those games closer to that time,” the union continues. So live service titles are exempt from the strike, but that may not be the case if the strike runs for more than 60 days.

This is unconfirmed for now, but this could mean a number of big-time games on the horizon might also be exempt from the strike, including the likes of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Star Wars Outlaws, and more.

Take a look at our new games 2024 guide for an overview of all the releases yet to come this year.