Mega Man will be sounding a bit different in his next game Dual Override, it seems. Earlier today, voice actor Ben Diskin, who voiced the character in Mega Man 11, shared on his personal Bluesky account that he would not be reprising his role as the character, claiming that he was asked to return for it, “but only on the condition I work without the protections of a union contract.”

Diskin went on to say that he “was told there are ‘full A.I. protections in place that guarantee in writing that [my] voice will never be used for A.I. development”‘but was also told “with certainty, from [Capcom], that the project will not go union.'” He even went on to say that he would have been “willing to work on a LOWER-budget union contract,” if Capcom would have been willing to change their position on the project being done through a union. Though it sounds like Diskin could work on the game non-union, his issue would then be that he would have to take a legal challenge to Capcom himself should one arise, without the financial support of a union.

While this is just a claim on Diskin’s part, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) put out a do not work order yesterday specifically for Mega Man: Dual Override. In the statement, SAG-AFTRA stated that the “producer of the video game production entitled Mega Man: Dual Override has failed to initiate the signatory process.” In turn, they have instructed members to stop any kind of acting or performance work on the game until they provide further notice.

Mega Man: Dual Override was announced at last year’s Game Awards, marking the first new game in the series since 2018’s Mega Man 11. Not much has been shown of the game so far, but it is currently slated for sometime in 2027.

Last year, after 11 months of striking, SAG-AFTRA reached an agreement with various game studios ensuring certain AI-related protections for their voice actors, part of the reason as to why Diskin declined to take the role. To close on an unfortunately evergreen line from the voice actor himself, “The video game industry is facing record layoffs and huge amounts of uncertainty. I need a union contract to feel safe.”