For months, strikes by two major unions have paralyzed the American film industry. Apparently, this fight for fair contract terms is soon spreading to game studios as well
This was clear, once again. After already months ago the members of the American actors union SAG-AFTRA clearly voted for a strike against the film industry and finally joined this industrial action, now probably our all next hobby follows: the video game industry.
Who is SAG-AFTRA?This is the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists
It is a union that is American at its core, but global in scope. It represents a very broad range of professions, including: Film and television actors, singers, voice actors or just various other media workers.
The future of gaming characters
With nearly 98 percent approval, negotiators were given permission to use the walkout as leverage. There are still more talks to come this week within the meetings, which have been going on since last October. If there is no agreement on the new interactive media deal there, the strike could be called soon.
What does this mean for us gamers? If there is a strike, all corresponding members of SAG-AFTRA would stop working and thus no longer participate in film, motion capture or voice recording.
This in turn would probably not have major consequences in the long run for now, but the longer the strike goes on, the more time the developers will lose. And if the strike were to last as long as it already has for screenwriters and actors (nearly three months and counting), it would inevitably have consequences for the development schedules of numerous games.
Be mindful: Without the work of countless voice actors and actors, there would be no games of the cinematic class of a Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3, GTA 5 or a Baldur’s Gate 3. Behind every beloved character from your favorite game is a person who wants to make a living out of giving you a memorable time.
What is it about? A lot, in fact, it’s about the future of the professions of actors and voice actors. For above all, the use of artificial intelligence to reproduce the voice, appearance and ultimately the entire performance of the artists threatens the continued existence and understanding of the professions as a whole.
The future of the profession is at stake.
But beyond that, of course, as always, the parties are also at odds over pay and other financial facets of the contractual works.
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
Who is negotiating with SAG-AFTRA? Among those at the table are representatives from:
- Activision
- Disney
- Electronic Arts
- Epic Games
- Insomniac Games
- Take-Two
- WB Games
The very mention of Take-Two should set off alarm bells for many. GTA 6 without actors? That sounds like a really messed up idea. But everyone else will probably find titles from these companies that require massive use of talent in front of the camera or microphone.
Wasn’t there someone else on strike?
Yes, that’s right: the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has been on strike for nearly six months at major studios and streaming services in the US. Now, however, a preliminary agreement has been reached here virtually hours ago (as of September 26), which includes higher earnings, safeguards and regulations on the use of AI.
However, it is currently unclear when the authors will resume work. The members still have to vote on the outcome of the talks anyway. Until everything is finalized, he said, the WGA wants to continue to show solidarity with the SAG-AFTRA labor dispute.
No coincidence that it continues
You’re on the wrong side of history!
Fran Drescher on movie studio CEOs in the U.S.
If you want to hear and perhaps get a sense of why such a large majority within SAG-AFTRA voted for strikes once again, you should take a look at the speech given by its president Fran Drescher (The Nanny). She gave it just over two months ago, when the actors’ union’s own strikes against the Hollywood film industry began – and continue to this day.
SAG-AFTRA is serious and is now applying this determination to voice actors and performers in video games. So we have to assume that if strikes do begin, they probably won
t be ended lightly.
Has there ever been a strike in the industry? Yes, video game voice actors went on strike for a good eleven months in the mid-2010s.
What’s your take on this? Would you be okay with this division of SAG-AFTRA, which touches us most in our daily lives thanks to their work, going on strike? Which title do you fear most, and which do you think would be the most affected? What do you think, would the strike last as long as it did for the screenwriters? Feel free to tell us what you think in the comments!
