SAG-AFTRA Video Game Performers Vote to Authorise Strike Against Publishers and Studios

SAG-AFTRA members voted overwhelmingly at 98.32% to approve a new strike against the video game industry. The union claimed that 34,687 members took part in the vote, accounting for 24.49% of eligible voters. Keep in mind that this authorization does not guarantee that a strike will occur, but union members will seriously consider stopping work if the union fails to reach a fair agreement with the company. The voting period opened on September 5 and ended on Monday, September 25, and new negotiations will begin on September 26 (Pacific Time). If the action goes through, it would mark the second video game strike since a similar action in 2016 that lasted nearly a year.

“It’s time for video game companies to stop playing games and get serious about reaching an agreement on this contract,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in a statement. prepared statement. “The results of this vote show that our members understand the existential nature of these negotiations and it is time for these companies – which make billions of dollars and pay their CEOs handsomely – to give us “An agreement for performers to continue performing in video games as a viable career.” The union is pushing for a new interactive media agreement to secure video game performers who work in voice acting, motion capture, singing, stunt work and more workers receive fair remuneration.

The 2016 video game strike marked the longest strike in the union’s history, with a three-year contract signed in November 2017 until 2020. The contract was subsequently extended to 2022 and 2023, and now SAG-AFTRA is renegotiating it with at least 10 major companies. These include publishers and production studios: Activision Blizzard (The Call of Duty), Blindlight, Disney, Electronic Arts (Star Wars Jedi: Survivors), Formosa, Insomniac Games (Marvel’s Spider-Man), Epic Games (Fortress Night), Take – Two (Red Dead Redemption 2), VoiceWorks Productions and WB Games (Hogwarts Legacy). However, SAG-AFTRA appears to have been trying to negotiate a new deal since October 2022 to no avail, so the strike authorization shows just how serious the workforce is when the demand comes.

In addition to demanding higher wages to compensate for rising inflation, SAG-AFTRA is also seeking to fight back against the “unregulated” use of artificial intelligence that displaces and takes away performers’ jobs. There’s also the issue that companies can use actors’ digital likenesses for projects without consent and proper payment. This is also the crux of the ongoing actors’ strike in Hollywood. Similar to film and television actors, video game performers work under contract for multiple developers or publishers. As previously stated, if negotiations are reached, a strike may not occur in the end and development of the game will continue as planned.

Earlier this week, the WGA (Writers Guild of America) and AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) reached a “tentative agreement” to end the strike – which began on May 2 – after about five months. Subject to finalization, further details on the conditions to be met will be announced in due course.Picketing outside the studio is currently suspended, but the union added that no one should return to work until an official announcement is made (via hollywood reporter).