SAG-AFTRA members have voted to authorize a new strike against the video game industry, with an overwhelming 98.32 percent in favor. The union claims that 34,687 members voted, representing 24.49 percent of eligible voters. Please note that this authorization does not guarantee that the strike will take place, but that union members are serious about halting work if the unions are unable to reach a fair agreement with the companies. The voting period started on September 5 and ended on Monday, September 25, ahead of new negotiations starting on September 26 (PT). If it goes ahead, this would be the second video game strike since a similar action took place in 2016, which lasted almost a year.
“It’s time for the 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 prepared statement. “The outcome of this vote shows that our members understand the existential nature of these negotiations, and that now is the time for these companies – who make billions of dollars and pay their CEOs handsomely – to give our artists an agreement that will remain on video to perform. games as a viable career.” The union is seeking a new Interactive Media Agreement that would ensure that video game artists who do voice acting, motion capture, singing, stunt work and the like are fairly compensated.
Again, #SagAftraMembers have come together in support of their colleagues and overwhelmingly – with 98.32% in favor – approved a strike authorization for the Interactive Media Agreement, ahead of a return to negotiations. https://t.co/x5e2Fj6yen
— SAG-AFTRA (@sagaftra) September 26, 2023
The 2016 video game strike was the longest in the union’s history. In November 2017, a three-year contract was signed that ran until 2020. The same deal was then extended through 2022 and 2023, and now SAG-AFTRA is back to negotiating. with at least 10 large companies. These include a mix of publishers and production studios: Activision Blizzard (Call of Duty), Blindlight, Disney, Electronic Arts (Star Wars Jedi: Survivor), Formosa, Insomniac Games (Marvel’s Spider-Man), Epic Games (Fortnite), Take – Two (Red Dead Redemption 2), VoiceWorks Productions and WB Games (Hogwarts Legacy). However, it appears that SAG-AFTRA has been trying in vain to negotiate a new agreement since October 2022, and therefore the strike authorization shows how serious the workforce is when the need arises.
In addition to demanding higher wages to compensate for rising inflation, SAG-AFTRA is trying to fight back against the “unregulated” use of artificial intelligence, which would replace and take away the work of artists. There’s also the issue of companies being able to use an actor’s digital likeness for projects without permission and proper payout. This has also been a sticking point for the Hollywood actor’s ongoing strike. Like film and TV actors, video game artists work on a contract basis for multiple developers or publishers. As previously mentioned, if negotiations are completed, there may not be a strike after all and game development will continue as planned.
Earlier this week, the WGA (Writers Guild of America) and the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) reached a “tentative agreement” to end the strike after about five months – strike action began on May 2. is yet to be finalized and further details of the fulfilled conditions will be announced in due course. For now, picketing outside studios has been suspended, but the union added that no one will be allowed to resume work until an official announcement is made (via The Hollywood Reporter).
