[GameSpot] - Video Game Voice Actors May Go On Strike As Union Authorizes Vote

[343iBot]

Actors union SAG-AFTRA has been striking for a new film and TV contract for weeks now, after joining the Writers Guild Of America strike, which began in May. That strike may soon extend to video game voice actors, as the union’s board has sent a vote to all members ahead of an upcoming negotiation.

The union announced the vote on its official website, in preparation for what the post calls “forthcoming bargaining dates with signatory video game companies.” The previous contract was extended nearly a year ago, according to SAG-AFTRA, and new negotiators are set to begin on September 26.

The SAG-AFTRA Interactive Media logo

The “signatory video game companies” cited in the SAG-AFTRA post are as follows:

• Activision Productions Inc.
• Blindlight LLC.
• Disney Character Voices Inc.
• Electronic Arts Productions Inc.
• Epic Games, Inc.
• Formosa Interactive LLC.
• Insomniac Games Inc.
• Take Two Productions Inc.
• VoiceWorks Productions Inc.
• Warner Bros Games Inc.

"Here we go again! Now our Interactive (Video Game) Agreement is at a stalemate too," SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said in the official press release. "Once again we are facing employer greed and disrespect. Once again artificial intelligence is putting our members in jeopardy of reducing their opportunity to work. And once again, SAG-AFTRA is standing up to tyranny on behalf of its members."

Terms being asked for by SAG-AFTRA for video game actors include the same rate increases as film and TV actors, job protection from AI, and a mandatory five-minute-per-hour rest period for on-camera performance capture actors.

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