News

SAG-AFTRA has suspended its strike against ten game studios. The organization's national board will meet tomorrow to consider a tentative agreement with the developers; more details of the arrangement will be disclosed if and when the board agrees to the terms.

Variety obtained a statement from a spokesperson for the gaming companies that offered some hints about the contents of the potential deal: "This agreement builds on three decades of successful partnership between the interactive entertainment industry and the union. It delivers historic wage increases of over 24 percent for performers, enhanced health and safety protections, and industry-leading AI provisions requiring transparency, consent and compensation for the use of digital replicas in games."

It's been almost a year since the performers' union called a strike against the companies participating in the Interactive Media Agreement. The move was part of an effort to secure protections for its members regarding AI-generated likenesses of their voices and bodies in the gaming industry. The studios signatory to the IMA are:

Activision Productions Inc.

Blindlight LLC

Disney Character Voices Inc.

Electronic Arts Productions Inc.

Formosa Interactive LLC

Insomniac Games Inc.

Llama Productions LLC

Take 2 Productions Inc.

VoiceWorks Productions Inc.

WB Games Inc.

In addition to the negotiations with the IMA businesses, SAG-AFTRA recently took action against Epic Games for its use of an AI-generated voice for Darth Vader in Fortnite.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/sag-aftra-has-suspended-its-gaming-industry-strike-over-ai-protections-204240996.html?src=rss

If it feels like you spend a lot more time watching ads in Prime Video than you used to, that may not be a mistake. Amazon has increased the number of ads or "ad load" in Prime Video to four-to-six minutes of ads per hour, Adweek reports. Amazon's plan to increase the amount of advertising in its streaming service was previously reported in October 2024.

Shifting to a max of six minutes of ads per hour is nearly double the up to three-and-a-half minutes of ads that could play when Amazon first converted its basic Prime Video subscription to an ad-supported tier. The company used to offer all of Prime Video's features and an ad-free experience for the cost of Amazon Prime ($159 per year / $15 per month) or $9 per month, but announced at the end of 2023 that avoiding ads would cost an extra $3 every month. Besides inserting ads, Amazon's basic plan also doesn't support for features like Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision.

Engadget has reached out to Amazon to confirm the ad load changes and will update this article if we hear back.

Regardless of your tolerance for ads, cheaper ad-supported subscriptions have quickly become expected from most streaming services. Netflix, Max, Peacock and Paramount+ all offer subscriptions with ads. Even Apple, who could theoretically afford to lose money on subscriptions, reportedly started building a team to sell ads for a possible ad-supported tier of Apple TV+ in 2023.

While adding more interruptions to the Prime Video experience isn't what anyone wants, Adweek does note that streaming services still insert far fewer ad breaks than broadcast TV. The ad load on traditional television "typically ranges from 13 to 16 minutes per hour."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/prime-video-reportedly-shows-almost-twice-as-many-ads-as-it-used-to-210650918.html?src=rss