Destiny 2: Heresy Is Missing Some Voice Lines Due To Ongoing SAG-AFTRA Strike

Destiny 2: Heresy launched today, the third episode and final epilogue from the Light and Darkness saga, which ended with the narrative completion of The Final Shape.

However it didn’t launch in a complete state – it wasn’t missing any major level or encounter, instead what was missing was a number of voice lines. The dialogue is missing due to the still ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, which you might recall began in July 2024.

After SAG-AFTRA representatives and major video game studios like Bungie, EA, and Activision, to name a few, couldn’t reach an agreement regarding protections around Generative AI, video game voice actors who are members of SAG-AFTRA have been on strike since July 26, 2024.

There is an interim agreement that studios can sign, which includes the protections actors are asking for, so that they can keep working without being scabs. But not everyone has signed, and an interim agreement is only good for, well, an in-between period of time. It’s not the same as a renewed agreement.

Presumably, if Bungie, or its parent company PlayStation, had signed the aforementioned agreement, than this wouldn’t be an issue. However in a blog post on the studio’s website, it doesn’t indicate anything regarding why the voice lines aren’t there, beyond saying that they are missing due to the strike.

“Due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, you may notice certain voice lines being silent in-game,” the studio wrote. “However, we have enabled subtitles by default for this release to ensure players do not miss any narrative content.”

Bungie also notes that any activities impacted by missing voice lines will have a warning, so that players know to expect the subtitles ahead of time.

Last August, PSU caught up with Jennifer Hale, the iconic voice of FemShep in Mass Effect and numerous other characters across games, TV, and film, and spoke to her about the strike.

It was heartening to hear at the time, that from Hale’s perspective, both sides are actually quite closely aligned. It’s when the lawyers get involved that things fall apart.

“It’s mainly falling apart when the spirit of what they’ve decided is handed to lawyers, and they have to codify the new boundaries. And there are loop-holes that are being left in, because a lawyers job is to serve their client, and their client is often companies and large companies,” Hale told us.

It’s unclear if that’s still what is holding up negotiations, or if the issues have evolved as SAG-AFTRA members hold strong in their strike.

When SAG-AFTRA members first went on strike back in July 2024, Sarah Elmaleh, chair of the negotiating committee for the Interactive Media Agreement (IMA) said “Eighteen months of negotiations have shown us that our employers are not interested in fair, reasonable A.I. protections, but rather flagrant exploitation.”

“We refuse this paradigm – we will not leave any of our members behind, nor will we wait for sufficient protection any longer. We look forward to collaborating with teams on our Interim and Independent contracts, which provide A.I. transparency, consent and compensation to all performers, and to continuing negotiations in good faith with this bargaining group when they are ready to join us in the world we all deserve.”

Source – [Bungie via VGC]