Performers working in the games industry have spoken of their distress at being asked to work on explicit content without notice, including a scene featuring a sexual assault.

Sex scenes are common in modern games - and are often made by filming human actors who are then digitised into game characters.

But performers have told the BBC a culture of secrecy around projects - where scripts are often not shared until the last moment - means they frequently do not know in advance that scenes may involve intimate acts.

They describe feeling “shaken” and “upset” after acting them out.

Performing arts union Equity is demanding action from the industry - it has published guides on minimum pay, and working conditions in games, including on intimate or explicit scenes.

  • Jin@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Not okay, not letting them know what they are signing up for… it’s like having them do stunts.

    What game does sex scenes? Usually it just fades to black

    • Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      What game does sex scenes? Usually it just fades to black

      Witcher III is the only one I can think of off the top of my head. I vaguely recall Fable 1 doing the fade-to-black thing, but then staying black and playing out some cliche moaning, which is kind of the same thing from the voice actors’s perspective.

      Whole category of dating sims and basically soft-core-porn games, which I’m sure have a high demand for acting out these kinda of scenes.

      • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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        3 months ago

        Fable was very much played for laughs. I can remember some guy going “ooh I like that” in a camp voice.

        Heavy Rain and The Last of Us 2 had very awkward sex scenes though.

      • Kaiserschmarrn@feddit.org
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        3 months ago

        Jup… One of the endings involves the protagonist having sex with a cult leader and then >!getting sacrificed as soon as he cums inside her!<.

  • Eczpurt@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Baldurs Gate 3 still getting praise long after release. Serious unicorn in the game industry!

      • dQw4w9WgXcQ@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        Just to be a counterweight: I have ~15 hours in BG3. At some point I just realized it’s not for me. I can’t really put my finger on it, but it just doesn’t strike any nerve for what I enjoy in video games.

        Skyrim, however was my favorite game through the 2010s, with probably north of 500 hours across multiple platforms.

        Maybe it’s something about the pacing and freedom to disregard the story elements.

        • Mothra@mander.xyz
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          3 months ago

          Oh I see where the controversy comes from. I’m not implying they are for the same people, although of course there is an overlap because they’re both fantasy.

          All I’m saying is, within the fantasy genre, BG seems to be causing a similar impact as a game as Skyrim did in its time. Both give what their fandoms want, both feel fresh and innovative/creative enough at the time of release, both offer a lot in replay value. They are very different games though.

    • dQw4w9WgXcQ@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      Or:

      Easy. Just share the scripts in a reasonable advance to allow actors either withdraw from the project or brace/prepare themselves for the uncomfortable scenes.

  • cuchilloc@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Bro what’s the point of being an actor if you get offended by playing a role.

    • Capt. Wolf@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Ms Jefferies told the BBC she was once asked to act out a scene with a male performer involving a sexual assault with no prior warning. “I turned up and was told what I would be filming would be a graphic rape scene,” she said.

      Imagine taking a role where nobody tells you there’s anything sexual about it and showing up one day and someone’s like “alright time for the rape scene.”

      “The what?“

      “The rape scene, you’re character is going to be raped and we need you to mocap it with this guy. Suit up!"

      Taking a job doesn’t entitle the studio to do whatever they want to you or have you do whatever they want. Standard guild actors will almost always have a nudity and sex clause in their contract. The same doesnt seem to be happening in the gaming industry for VAs and mocap actors, with studios hiding the degree of work behind NDAs to protect their projects and their asses.

    • gedaliyah@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      I’m not sure what industry you’re in, but most jobs include standards of what is generally included and expected. You can find unscrupulous people in any industry who will do the jobs that others reject, but they are not the norms.

      If you are in a contract and the terms suddenly change to include something unexpected and outside the standard expectations, don’t you want someone in a decision making position to speak up? That’s all that’s going on here, at least from a labor perspective.

    • koper@feddit.nl
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      3 months ago

      If you genuinely don’t see that as a problem, I’m concerned for the safety of women around you.

      • cuchilloc@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Im more concerned that this people did not take the time to read their contracts or have their terms reviewed. Work for people you can trust or get a lawyer.

        • cuchilloc@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago
          • time for the surprise sex scene
          • that’s not in my contract
          • then you’re fired
          • then you’ll be hearing from my lawyer

          THE END