Apple's 2025 Mac Studio brings with it the latest Apple Silicon chips and a few more changes that power users will love. One model is a must-buy, and the other is still excellent but very clearly not for everybody.The Mac Studio takes its usual external appearance once againThe Mac Studio isn't called the Mac Pro, but it might as well be. Like the Mac Pro, the Mac Studio is as much computing power as Apple can bring to bear, in a compact metal box.In 2025, that legacy of power remains intact. For now, it's faster than the fastest Mac Pro, albeit minus PCI-E slots. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

With the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct creeping up on us along with the rumoured June launch window, rumours about the development kit for the new console have started popping up. A recent rumour revolves around the Switch 2s speculated support for 4K output. Developers have seemingly revealed that the devkit for the Switch 2 doesnt have support for 4K.In a recent episode of the Insider Gaming Weekly podcast, Tom Henderson has said that developers during GDC 2025 told him about the capabilities of the devkits. In these conversation, one developer revealed the lack of 4K output.I heard this from one developer at GDC and also heard it separately in an email, but the dev kits, or some of the dev kits, dont have a 4K output, said Henderson in the podcast.While the lack of 4K output for a development kit isnt too big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, it does indicate that the Switch 2 wont be able to run at such a high resolution natively. Rather, the console will likely make use of some form of AI-based image upscaling in the vein of Nvidias DLSS.This rumoured technology was first spotted back in January thanks to a patent application. According to this, the Switch 2 will feature separate internal hardware to run a neural net. This chip, developed by Nvidia, is expected to be capable of being able to upscale images from 540p to 1080p, as an example.One of the uses of this upscaling technology seemingly revolves around reducing a games overall size. Through this, Nintendo could have the game take up less space on the hardware since the console wont need high-resolution textures that tend to be massive in storage terms, instead relying on image upscaling technology.An example given for this application of the upscaling technology was that, where a game with 4K textures packaged into it might weigh in at around 60 GB, a game featuring texture sizes more suited to 1080p gaming will have a smaller footprint of around 20 GB. The AI-based upscaler can then be used to output the 1080p versions textures all the way up to 4K. This would also allow games to fit inside of Nintendos Switch Carts, which typically have a storage capacity of up to 32 GB.Other rumours from back in January gave us an indication of what kind of horsepower we can expect from the Switch 2. According to these rumours, the GPU on the Switch 2 will clock in at 561 MHz while the console is in handheld mode, translating to around 1.71 TFLOPS (trillion floating point operations per second). Docking the Switch 2 will give it a considerable boost, clocking up at 1,000 MHz, coming in at around 3.1 TFLOPS.The Nintendo Switch 2 is rumoured to be running on an Nvidia Tegra 239 SoC (system on chip). While not quite as strong as the hardware we see in current-gen consoles, let alone modern PCs, the hardware will still end up being a considerable upgrade over the original Switch.

Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy developer Eidos Montreal has announced a round of layoffs. Taking to LinkedIn, the company has confirmed that it is letting go of 75 of its employees. In the post, the company said that the decision for layoffs was made because it couldnt reallocate the staff members to other parts of the studio.Today, we informed our studio staff that we are going to let go up to 75 valuable members, as one of our mandates is coming to an end, posted the studio on LinkedIn. It is not a reflection of their dedication or skills, but unfortunately, we dont have the capacity to entirely reallocate them to our other ongoing projects and services.These very talented, highly experienced experts are going to enter the employment market, and we are working to support them through this transition.The studio has maintained that it will be continuing work on its ongoing projects despite the layoffs, however. Eidos-Montral stays committed to deliver its other projects currently in development, it posted.This round of layoffs follows a similar one from little over a year ago. Back in January 2024, Eidos had announced that it was laying off 97 employees from teams across development, support services, and administration.The global economic context, the challenges of our industry and the comprehensive restructuring announced by Embracer have finally impacted our studio, said the studio in its announcement back then. The difficult decision has been made to let go 97 people from development teams, administration, and support services.While it is currently unknown what the studio might be working on, we got confirmation back in June 2024 that it was helping out Microsofts first party developer Playground Games in developing Fable.Were so excited to be supporting the development of Fable, posted the studio on social media. Its been a blast collaborating with the talent team at [Playground Games] to craft an unforgettable adventure.Rumours from back in November 2022 also indicated that Eidos Montreal might be working on a new game in the Deus Ex franchise. This, however, has not yet been confirmed. Another project that was rumoured to have been in the works was a Stranger Things-inspired game that has reportedly been cancelled.

UBCs Design for Deconstruction research initiative included the development of a mock-up wall section constructed using design-for-deconstruction principles. The mock-up was subsequently deconstructed to test the ease of disassembly and the quality of materials salvaged from the deconstruction. This phase of research also produced assembly details of that mock-up and a number of other potential configurations that would allow for a variety of insulative values. Image credit: Design for Deconstruction in Light WoodLandfilled wood is a big part of Canadas construction, renovation, and demolition (CRD) waste problem. The average lifespan of a building in Canada is around 70 years before it is demolished, and in rapidly densifying cities, the actual lifespan can be much shorter. Wood waste makes up 40 per cent of CRD waste; nationally, this means that about 10 per cent of all residual solid waste is wood waste. This equates to approximately 3.6 million tons of wood being landfilled each year.Much of this is clean woodincluding dimensional lumber, old growth timbers, and structural compositeswhich could have been reused or repurposed. Yet the existing construction industry works as a linear economy which does not support the reuse of wood materials, and so wood is relegated to disuse, where its bulk adds to overtaxed landfills and its decomposition releases CO2. A small percentage of Canadian wood waste is recycled through waste-to-energy conversion via incinerationbut this eliminates the possibility of any further reuse and also results in greenhouse gas emissions.The existing construction industry works as a linear economy which does not support the reuse of wood materials, and so wood is ultimately relegated to either landfill or incineration. A circular economy of wood for allow for the repeated reuse, remanufacture, or upcycling of wood products. Image credit: Design for Deconstruction in Light WoodFuture Vision & ResearchLooking holistically at a multi-generational life cycle for wood, architecture graduate Kaia Nielsen-Roines thesis research, entitled Seven Generations of Wood, envisions construction practices and recycling methods that would allow wood to be reused in light-frame construction for at least seven generations of buildings, or approximately 500 years of continuous use. This is achieved through design-for-deconstruction practices that adapt standard light wood frame construction details to allow for ease of disassembly and material recycling. The thesis also identifies material recycling technologies that would allow for common wood construction materials to be cycled back into the built environment. Proposals include making finger-jointed lumber from salvaged dimensional lumber, strand-based composite wood products (such as OSB and LSL) from solid wood, cross-laminated wood tiles from salvaged plywood and OSB, and wood fibre insulation from many different types of waste wood.How do we move towards such a vision? In order to build cyclically with wood waste, several roadblocks need to be addressed. For example, currently any piece of wood reused in a building for structural purposes must be signed off by a structural engineer. This is a good requirement for large beams and other non-structurally redundant members, however, there is a case for changing this requirement for light wood frame systems, which have high levels of structural redundancy. Canada should adopt the policy of Washington State and Oregon, in which any wood coming out of a light wood frame building is automatically accepted as Grade 2 lumber for reuse in buildings.Large-scale sorting and storage of wood materials is also a roadblock to effective wood reuse. The models for tackling this already exist. The city of Seattle has developed a reuse hub which collects, sorts and resells construction materials of all kinds. Similarly, Habitat for Humanity ReStores throughout Canada have a similarif smaller-scalesystem for reselling construction materials.Since using wood waste entails the labour-intensive removal of connectors, it is likely that it will not be economically competitive with the current commodity. However, carbon accounting regulations could give an advantage to reused wood. Currently, several Canadian municipalities, including the City of Vancouver, offer pathways for gaining compliance credits if design-for-deconstruction methods and recycled materials use are demonstrated in a building permit application. Such policies rewarding the use of recycled wood are key in encouraging wood reuse. Similarly, waste management policies, such as the elevated tipping fees for wood disposal currently in effect in Vancouver, can encourage wood recycling. However, effective recycling pathways need to exist to gain benefit in separating wood from regular CRD waste.More research is needed on using recycled lumber in CLT, engineered wood products, and insulationincluding research into adhesive interaction and other technical issuesto ensure that these are equivalent and reliable products.The re-finger jointing of wood is a promising possibility for the reuse of wood. This requires research into the processes and requirements of the finished wood, and testing of the reliability of wood that has been finger-jointed a second time. From a structural standpoint, the joints of a finger-jointed board are much stronger than the wood itself, and defects could be cut away from salvaged wood to make a clearer and straighter board than can typically be produced from fresh wood.Another mechanism that could potentially help with wood recycling is an internet of things-based system to track wood pieces across generations of use. A scannable QR code, for instance, could link to information on the physical characteristics and history of a piece of wood, and would be useful in determining the possible future applications of that material. For recombined products such as finger-jointed lumber, an IoT system would help ensure uniformity for further recycling. Such a system could also aid in preserving pieces of material history, in the case of recycling old growth timbers from very old buildings.The front view of the finished wall mock-up. The constructed mock-up was designed with an R-22 effective insulation factor to conform with the recommended requirements established by the city of Vancouver. Image credit: Design for Deconstruction in Light WoodCurrent ProgressFortunately, there is increasing engagement from within the architecture and construction industry and from government at various levels to move towards a circular model of wood use. Changes to wood disposal regulations in a number of Canadian municipalities has started to divert some clean wood from landfills. For example, in Vancouver, there are additional tipping fees for disposal of mixed construction waste, and savings when wood is separated out for recycling. Additionally, a minimum percent of building materials must be recycled from houses built prior to 1950 in order to obtain building permits for new construction on those sites.From the industry side, there are a number of businesses that are currently at the vanguard of a circular construction economy. Among these are building material recycling companies that turn waste wood into new construction products, like Vancouvers Urbanjacks; construction and architecture firms designing buildings that can be deconstructed and salvaged and which make use of recycled and low-carbon materials; and deconstruction companies such as Vema in Vancouver and Ouroboros in Toronto who dismantle buildings rather than demolishing them, so that the component parts can be reused and recycled. There are also related stakeholders working to track, audit, and divert waste materials from landfills: Vancouver Island consultant firm Light House recently developed the Building Material Exchange (BMEx) which connects contractors, individuals, and organizations to allow excess construction materials to be shared in the local construction industry, rather than going into landfill.The federal mandate to create a net zero construction sector by 2030 adds further impetus to reforming the way in which our industry uses wood. Some of the barriers to reusing wood at an industry scale include lack of infrastructure for salvaging and recycling wood, limited policy clarity on reusing wood in construction, and the perceived and actual cost barriers to reusing wood.The mock-up modifies light-wood frame construction by replacing nailed connections with screwed connections or double-headed nails to allow for disassembly, omitting any plastics or adhesives from the assembly, and using wood fiber insulation for exterior insulation and vapour-open batt insulation to allow for a breathable but air-tight building envelope. Optionally, it is also recommended to use cladding and interior finishes that can be removed and replaced to allow for simplified repairs and access to the service cavity. For additional air-sealing, the exterior joints of the sheathing panels and interior edges of windows and doors are sealed with flashing tape. Image credit: Design for Deconstruction in Light WoodDesigning for DeconstructionOne significant barrier is the labour required to deconstruct as opposed to demolishing a building. Wood frame buildings constructed after 1950 in Canada are generally difficult to deconstruct: the use of construction adhesives, spray foams, nail guns, and toxic materials (such as asbestos and lead) make successful deconstruction challenging, and the materials extracted from such projects are often damaged and unsuited to reuse. A solution to this issue is to plan for a buildings end-of-life by designing it for deconstruction, so that its material components can be disassembled and reused or recycled with minimal effort and limited damage to the materials. While design for deconstruction is not a new concept, there has been little concentrated research on developing standardized methods for design-for-deconstruction of light wood frame buildingsthe construction method for the majority of Canadian houses. A single 130 square metre (1,400 square foot) house that is designed for deconstruction could allow for the reclamation of about 30 tons of wood.In order to promote design for deconstruction wewith the support of Canada Wood Council and Forestry Innovation Investmentrecently produced a free Guidebook for Design for Deconstruction in Light Wood Frame (blogs.ubc.ca/design4deconstruction). Our suggested construction details and materials take the approach of minimally changing the process of building light wood frame to allow for deconstruction. For example, we suggest changing nails to screws and using minimal tapes, with no foams or adhesive membranes.We are currently researching how to create wood insulation from waste wood, using a bio-based binder of waste wool from the wool industry. There are already examples of recycled wood construction products being produced in Canada: BP Canada produces wood fibre insulation in part from solid construction waste wood, Trillium CLT makes several versions of cross-laminated wood tiles from plywood and other composites, and salvaged finger-jointed lumber is being produced by Urbanjacks in Vancouver. A small but growing contingent of the construction industry is moving towards a circular economy of construction.Kaia Nielsen-Roines thesis research, entitled Seven Generations of Wood, envisions construction practices and recycling methods that would allow wood to be reused in light-frame construction for at least seven generations of buildings.ConclusionThe potential for wood reuse in the construction industry is massive, and while this largely untapped resource is gradually getting more attention, there is much room for growth. The solutions to infrastructure and policy issues surrounding wood reuse have already been trialed in other cities: for Canada, it is largely a matter of implementation. Beyond these practicalities, there is a need to develop the design standards, material technologies, and cross-industry relationships that would make a circular construction economy of wood profitable and sustainable.Looking at the whole lifecycle of woodand the possibility of multiple generations for the same wood productis required to make the most of the wood we generate in Canada. Envisioning what needs to be done through multiple uses of the same piece of wood will allow us to respect this key material resource, while providing the most benefit to people and to our environment.The post Reuse of Wood Construction and Demolition Waste: Potentials for Canada appeared first on Canadian Architect.

In design firms, success hinges on more than just the Practice of Design. Being good practitioners and refining the craft is, of course, a prerequisite. However, firm leaders in particular need to focus more effort on the Design of Practice. To build a strong practice, a firms context and its position in the marketplace must align with its operating system. For many firms, this requires a renewed focus on the practice itself, to ensure these three elements are in sync. Without alignment, firms are likely to experience suboptimal performance and stagnation. How to achieve this alignment? Heres my advice to firm leaders.Understand Your Firms ContextFirst, look in the proverbial mirror and develop a clear understanding of your firms broad context. What is its purpose, goals, and current reality? Why does your practice exist? Have you prioritized your personal, professional, and practice goals? Do you understand how your firm is performing, how its perceived in the marketplace, as well as its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats? These are not easy tasks, but you must uncover what makes the practice tick. Only then can you take the next step to establish the right position in the marketplace.Define Your Firms Market PositionArchitecture has a tradition of being a generalists profession. While that mindset may have worked in the past, attempting to be everything to everyone has little chance of success in todays competitive marketplace. The growing complexity and risk involved in design and construction projects demands that firms reject the tradition of broad general practice, and instead stake out a unique market position.Clients are seeking firms with specific expertise that can address their unique challenges. This means you must make choices about who your firm serves (its target market), and what unique value your firm provides (its strategic focus).These two factors define a firms practice model. Setting aside general practice as an approach, there are three broad categories to consider:Delivery Firms: These firms prioritize efficiency and cost-effectiveness, catering to high-volume, bottom-line-driven clients. They focus on straightforward projects in which speed and execution are paramount.Service Firms: These firms specialize in complex, mission-critical projects. Service firms serve corporate, institutional, and public-sector clients who demand high expertise and reliability. These firms are known for deep client relationships and a consultative approach.Idea Firms: Positioned as innovators, these firms excel in solving unique design challenges. They focus on cutting-edge, creative design solutions.None of these three practice models is more noble or better than any other. They are simply different, serving different clients with different needs. When goals, market position, and operating systems are aligned, any of the three models can be as successful and profitable as any other.Once your practice model is clear, further differentiation is necessary to focus on the unique value being provided to your target market. Key differentiators usually include practice values, specific services and disciplines offered, geographic focus, project and client type/size/complexity, and pricing approaches, just to name a few. Focusing is difficult for creatives, but its the only way to develop and deliver unique value. So, try narrowing your firms focus to a point where it seems virtually impossible to find the right types and number of clients. Then its likely that youll be on the right track.Align Your Firms Operating SystemThe operating system of any firm consists of nine key elements. In weaker practices, the operating system elements often work at cross-purposes. This results in management decisions that are largely reactive and shortsighted, leading to an overall firm that is sub-optimal and expensive to manage. In a strong practice, these elements are tailored to align with the firms context and market position.Profiles of the operating systems for each generic practice model are outlined below. Do you recognize your firm in these descriptions?Delivery Operating SystemMarket Position: Efficient project execution for volume developers, entrepreneurs, and national chain clients with standardized building requirements requiring straightforward solutions that have a proven track record.Practice: The firms managing principal is typically a strong technical architect; the relationship between client and firm is often transactional.Principals: Principals tend to be deeply involved in project execution, leading a cadre of technical personnel. Major practice decisions are often made unilaterally by the firms majority owner.People: Lean teams, with fewer professionals than technical staff. Minimal benefits, professional development, and career planning. The firm may rely on offshore contractors or temporary staff. The culture is all about efficiency.Pipeline: Relies heavily on referrals without a formal marketing program. Lead generation is opportunistic and responsive to market conditions.Pricing: Generally fixed fees or value-based pricing, with minimal service levels and an emphasis on efficiency resulting in premium margins.Pitching: Leverages the firms reputation for responsiveness, reliability, staying on schedule, and adhering to budget.Projects: Led by technically oriented architects and technical staff. Designs are standardized and solutions are often directed by the client. The firm employs leading-edge production tools.Payment: Tolerant of above-average accounts receivable and accounts payable, with distributions to owners as cash reserves are replenished.Postscript: Primary exit options include external purchase, merger, and dissolution. Internal transition can be difficult due to a small pool of entrepreneurial 2nd tier leaders. Transition to a Service firm or an Idea firm is very difficult without major changes to the firms leadership and strategy.Service Operating SystemMarket Position: Specializes in providing balanced results for institutional, government, and corporate clients seeking low-risk solutions for mission-critical projects.Practice: Led by a rainmaker principal, practice decisions are consultative, with strong client relationships.Principals: These firms tend to be larger, often with multiple leaders. Principals are project management-focused, overseeing teams of associates and senior staff.People: Senior registered personnel typically outnumber junior staff. The firm places a strong emphasis on job security, professional development, career planning, competitive benefits, and growth to ownership. Staff are valued for their thought leadership and experience. The culture is team-based and collegial.Pipeline: Marketing is proactive, employing a broad referral network to provide early information on upcoming projects. Project leads are subject to a rigorous Go/No-Go process. RFP response capability is finely tuned.Pricing: Value-based pricing with tailored options, reflecting the firms experience and capabilities resulting in premium profit margins.Pitching: Principals excel in solutions-based selling and are active in courting and closing sales.Projects: Managed by experienced principals and/or project managers who act as client advocates, with high attention to risk mitigation and quality control. The final say on design decisions is vested with the principal who obtains the work.Payment: Reliable cash flow with low accounts receivable and regular distributions to owners.Postscript: Internal, external and merger exit tracks are all viable options. Dissolution is not a good option due to long-term project and client commitments, and the excessive cost of severance packages. These firms may transition to a strong Delivery practice over time; deliberate transition to a strong Idea practice type can be very difficult.Idea Operating SystemMarket Position: Specializes in unique solutions to unique problems for unique clients.Practice: Led by a design-driven principal. The relationship between client and firm is typically based on the confidence the client has in the firms ability to innovate.Principals: In multi-principal firms, there is often one principal who is first among equals.People: A balanced mix of senior and junior personnel, with a strong emphasis on emerging talent. The firm places high demands on staff with an up or out expectation. The culture is innovation-oriented.Pipeline: Strong emphasis on networking and high visibility in target markets. Publishing, pursuing design awards, and winning competitions are important for establishing and maintaining credibility.Pricing: Uses value-based pricing, relying on the firms unique design process and solutions, resulting in premium margins.Pitching: Principals lead the sales process, challenging clients to think in unconventional ways.Projects: Led by a design principal, with senior professionals acting as second-in-command. Decisions are driven by creative vision and design innovation.Payment: Early in the firms lifecycle, profitability may be sacrificed to build a strong portfolio. Once the firm is established, it has significant leverage in fee negotiations.Postscript: These firms are challenged to maintain their innovator status when the founder leaves the firm. The practice may close its doors unless the firm has nurtured a second-generation design guru. These firms may also transition to a Service firm over time, opening the possibility of future internal, external, and merger exit options.As a leader working to sync up your firm, you need to shift focus from the Practice of Design to the Design of Practice. As you can see from the profiles above, Delivery, Service, and Idea practice models have vastly different operating profiles. Resetting your practice entails aligning your firms context and market position with the nine elements of its operating system.Rick Linley is the former COO of a 200-FTE, multidisciplinary, multi-office architecture and engineering practice. He is principal of Strong Practice Strategies, a niche consultancy helping leaders of emerging and evolving design firms to reset their practices. Rick is the author of Scoreboard Your Practice: 7 Numbers to Understand Your Design Firms Financials (Friesen Press Editions, 2022).As appeared in theApril 2025issue of Canadian Architect magazineThe post Reset Your Practice: Align Your Operating System appeared first on Canadian Architect.

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Death Stranding passes 20m players | News-in-briefKojima Productions' first IP is "steadily expanding across multiple platforms" since its release in 2019Image credit: Kojima Productions News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on April 1, 2025 This is a News-in-brief article, our short format linking to an official source for more information. Read more about this story by following the link below:Death Stranding passes 20m players

Bryant Francis, Senior EditorApril 1, 20258 Min ReadImage via SAG-AFTRA.At a GlanceSAG-AFTRA is entering its second year of striking studios under the Interactive Media Bargaining agreement.In that time, it's signed over 120 studios to the "interim agreement" that provides protections against AI voice usage.Now the union is urging all developerseven non-struck onesto consider signing the agreement.A recent back-and-forth between Hades II developer Supergiant Games actor Marin M. Miller shone a spotlight on a growing question developers face as SAG-AFTRA's strike against games signed under the Interactive Media Agreement enters its second year. What, exactly, do studios not under the agreement owe the actors they work with?Though the union's sticking point in negotiations with the bargaining group that includes Electronic Arts, Activision, and Take-Two Interactive is centered on disagreements on terms covering generative AI, Miller and Supergiant's conflict derives from a bigger purpose: actors asserting that now more than ever, they want contract terms to be backed up by unions with the resources to enforce them if things go south.That's one of the many messages that SAG-AFTRA Interactive Negotiating Committee chair Sarah Elmaleh and national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland hope developers are starting to hear. As the strike winds onward, the number of games being completed through under "side letter six" (the clause in the Agreement stating games that entered production before the strike are not officially struck) is dwindling down. That means publishers are eyeing casting needs for their next gameand actors, waiting for them to reach an agreement with the unionare looking for work with studios that hadn't previously signed any agreement.Related:On the surface, it's fair for a studio to ask why they would need a union contract. If they previously enjoyed a good relationship with an actor, and offered favorable terms, wouldn't that be enough?The answer, Crabtree-Ireland and Elmaleh said in an interview with Game Developer during the 2025 Game Developers Conference is "No."Why is the SAG-AFTRA strike still going?Studios hoping for the strike to resolve and for pressure to ease up any time soon might have a while to wait. According to Crabtree-Ireland, the nine companies that make up the game industry negotiating group can't agree with each other about "the basic principles that underly the AI protections we're looking for," he explained. "That hasn't been our experience with other bargaining groups."In case you need a reminder, Crabtree-Ireland fought that fight in 2023 during the SAG-AFTRA theatrical and television strike with the Producers Guild of America. "It took a minute to get there, but we made progress a lot faster toward that ultimate conclusion: informed consent, improved compensation, and parameters around generative AI use."To put his comments into context, with over 120 companies having signed the interim agreement, any members of the industry negotiating group that want to agree to SAG-AFTRA's terms are effectively being held back from casting union talent for new games. That means for however brief a window, smaller studios have a competitive edge against major industry players.Related:Which brings us back to the ongoing campaign by actors to secure interim agreements with their studio partners. As demonstrated in Marin's comments about Supergiant Games, more and more actors want "the very particular protections and strength of a union contract," Elmaleh said. "[The threat of AI] is new. It's unique, it's more serious than possibly any other threat we've faced as a community and that's really motivating people to recognize that the contract is special for many reasons, not only because of AI protections, but also the ability for a union to enforce those and...other protections in the contract" (Supergiant Games declined to comment after we reached out in advance of this story).If an actor enters a dispute with a developer (or third-party recording studio) over an individual contract, they have to pay their own lawyer to take it to court. If they enter a dispute over a union contract, their union dues pay for legal protection, among other benefits like health insurance, both of which carry over from job to job.Related:Elmaleh said that if one of your actors is asking for you to sign the contactto "go union"what they're saying is "this contract matters to me and these are my terms that I need to protect my career...I would love for you to sign this because this matters to me for self protection." She added that direct relationships between developers and SAG-AFTRA (as opposed to recording companies like the still-struck Formosa Interactive) allows the union to be "flexible" with the specific terms of the agreement.The realities of recastingTo the best of Game Developer's knowledge, none of the games struck by SAG-AFTRA have been recast with non-union talent. But games that aren't struck are a different story. Actors on games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zenless Zone Zero are among those who've been replacedsome of them stating they were recast after asking their employers to sign an interim agreement in exchange for their continued work.But as Canadian actor Humberly Gonzlez reminded us last year, the United States is not the only market for voice actors, and some games may employ actors from multiple territories covered by multiple unions to build the best possible cast. If the strike continues, could we see studios head overseas to fill gaps in productionespecially if they're in search of talent more willing to sign away their voice for generative AI use?That question has been on the lips of several voice actors Game Developer has spoken with in the last few months, with some pointing to a statement made by French voice actor Pascale Chemin saying her castmates on an unnamed game had been asked to sign a contract allowing for their voices to be used for generative AI by an unnamed publisher. (Pascale did not state which publisher or dubbing studio presented the contract, though she tagged the other actors in her Instagram postall of them are the French-language voices on Apex Legends. The tagged actors offer the only clue as to which game she was referring to).Chemin and her colleagues held the line against this unknown publisherbut will every actor do so? In every territory?"AI is a mandatory subject of bargaining, and that means you should not be circumventing or attempting to circumvent this process," Elmaleh said when asked about the possibility of currently-struck companies eyeing international replacements. Crabtree-Ireland agreed, saying it would be "reprehensible" for a company to go to such lengths to "foist unfair AI terms on performers.""You should expect to be called out not only by performers, but other fans too."He did say that that "there is no need" for any studio under the struck Interactive Media Agreement to take such steps. "More than 175 games and more than 50 percent of production earnings are covered under our interim or tiered independent agreements. It's entirely feasible to produce your game responsibly and under union contracts with fair AI protections."And as Chemin demonstrated, actors in other regions are willing to demonstrate solidarity if need be. As Crabtree-Ireland put it, "Most of the unions in other possible video game production jurisdictions have stated that they will fight against productions relocating to their jurisdictions to avoid the strike, not only out of solidarity but also because they don't want to work under unfair terms either."Worker protections are about more than legal termsGame development is a risky business and even salaried developers know their jobs are not the shining picture of stability. But by nature of the work, actors are in a more precarious position. Actors like Elmaleh hop from project to project as contractors, juggling the challenges that come with that life."It is a wild puzzle," she said when describing her relationship with the craft. When she's in the studio she needs to be able to keep a consistent performance that will allow a developer to seamlessly blend recordings from multiple days, a task that can be "potentially very athletic and flexible."In a post-GDC chat with Skin Deep developer Blendo Games, writer and narrative designer Laura Michet offered practical reasons for why the low-budget indie team went through the process of casting talent under the interim agreement through a third-party signatory. Blendo hasn't used voice acting in its previous games, and "I've worked with the union previously at some of my other jobs. I really love how everybody that you tend to get through there is very experienced," she said. "This is smooth sailing for them. There's no ambiguity, and they're very confident. It's always great to be in good hands when you're doing your first big game with [voice acting]."The union's standards, Elmaleh said, protect actors and offer stability they can rely on to keep themselves healthy and deliver high-quality work like the kind described by Michet.If developers prefer not to cast through a union agreement it's an actor's choice as to whether they want to keep working with that employer. But even if a studio has no legal obligations to the union, and believe that their choice to not sign a contract has limited consequences, Elmaleh argued there is still a bigger picture they need to consider. "You might feel like you're off in a corner, doing something on your own and doing things your own way, but you are part of a larger industry, and your games have an impact on people in that industry."For an example of the "impact" developers can have, let's return to Supergiant Games, a company that has produced inspiring, high-quality work with the help of voice acting talent. Hades was such a popular game that you can now find game mechanics and narrative systems inspired by the studio's work all over Steam.Inspiration takes many formsand the decision to work or not work with a given voice actor, or SAG-AFTRAmay send a message to other developers watching to see how their peers respond to the strike."It is an illusion to think that we don't impact each other," Elmaleh said. "That's not how this industry works."Game Developer and GDC are sibling organizations under Informa.About the AuthorBryant FrancisSenior Editor, GameDeveloper.comBryant Francis is a writer, journalist, and narrative designer based in Boston, MA. He currently writes for Game Developer, a leading B2B publication for the video game industry. His credits include Proxy Studios' upcoming 4X strategy game Zephon and Amplitude Studio's 2017 game Endless Space 2.See more from Bryant FrancisDaily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inboxStay UpdatedYou May Also Like