SAG-AFTRA Approves Video Game Strike Authorization

[Moonface]

I'm sure everyone knows about the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strikes that have been affecting movie productions, but there had been questions as to whether a strike for actors working in video games could also potentially happen. While a strike has not yet happened, SAG-AFTRA members have voted 98.32% in favor of a strike authorization "on the Interactive Media Agreement that covers members’ work on video games".

As mentioned in the statement by SAG-AFTRA on this vote, this authorization does not mean a strike has been called but that if one is called it has already been approved by SAG-AFTRA members to go into action. If a strike were to be called, it would affect the following companies:

• Activision Productions Inc
  
• Blindlight LLC
  
• Disney Character Voices Inc.
  
• Electronic Arts Productions Inc.
  
• Formosa Interactive LLC
  
• Insomniac Games Inc.
  
• Epic Games
  
• Take 2 Productions Inc.
  
• VoiceWorks Productions Inc.
  
• WB Games Inc.
  

SAG-AFTRA has been in negotiations with these listed companies since October 2022, throughout which "the companies have refused to offer acceptable terms on some of the issues most critical to our members, including wages that keep up with inflation, protections around exploitative uses of artificial intelligence, and basic safety precautions."

The current state of these negotiations is what led to the strike authorization vote, with the hope that it will add leverage for the next negotiation session that starts today (Sept. 26) through to Sept. 28. This will be the sixth round of negotiations according to the statement.

Of those listed companies, three of them (Blindlight LLC, Formosa Interactive LLC, and VoiceWorks Productions Inc.) are not game publishers/studios but instead do sub-contract work for both motion capture & voice acting for other game studios, with some examples of their clients below:

• Blindlight LLC: Bethesda (most recently for Starfield), Bungie, Square Enix, Rare, and Ubisoft
  
• Formosa Interactive LLC: Sony (notably God of War), Activision (Call of Duty), Kojima Productions, Riot Games, and Hoyoverse
  
• VoiceWorks Productions Inc: Valve, Activision, EA, Take Two, and Ubisoft
  

Formosa in particular has a known and notable track record for not paying their workers ever since an incident two months ago involving Hoyoverse. For anyone not in the know or just in need of a reminder, Formosa took payment from Hoyoverse for their work on the English dub of Genshin Impact but did not pay the voice actors that actually did that work, which did not sit well with Hoyoverse:

We truly regret to learn about the ongoing situation. Genshin Impact values and respects the work and effort of everyone involved, and we support our voice actors to claim their proper due. We have made payments to our recording studio on time, and we immediately urged the studio to pay our voice actors from our past payment. Meanwhile, we are also seeking alternative solutions. And we will keep you posted on further developments.

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Good on SAG-AFTRA for not backing down on this, even if it could lead to a strike that affects a lot of the game industry. I remember reading about the stuff with Hoyoverse and Formosa and thought it was bullshit then too, and although I hope none of the other companies are doing something that bad they should still be looking out for their actors just as much as I'm sure they look out for their own in-house development talent (in regards to pay, because I know shit like crunch exists and that's stupid too). 

Still, if a strike does happen it'll give all those companies a good reason to ship their games complete and maybe the devs will get to take their time instead of having to crunch for some idiot behind a desk.

[Maniakkid25]

Good. VAs deserve to be paid more, no matter the nationality. Screw these corporations for not paying them what they deserve. Pay VAs more!

[Moonface]

I wonder if Microsoft will step in on behalf of Activision in this or not due to the current acquisition process. It might help strengthen their case if they state they'll ensure better conditions for VA's working for Activision.
Then again, they own Bethesda already who used an external studio that is on that list, but it could be similar to the Hoyoverse/Formosa situation where they're not aware of what that external studio is doing with its employees.

[Dragon Lord]

I still laugh at all of the people who blamed Hoyo for that because "Chinese company bad!", then when they found out how it actually works (Hoyo pays Formosa, Formosa pays VAs), they went dead silent. Surprise, surprise, it was actually the American company that were being greedy scumbags. Who would have thought!?

Anyways, I don't care about the issue one way or another, since #JPSuperiority, so let them go crazy. Though I wonder how much Union VAs striking would really affect things, considering there's tons of non-Union English VAs out there who would gladly take up any work they can get.

[Maniakkid25]

Seiyuu aren't doing much better. In fact, they are probably doing worse. The average for a Japanese VA is less than $14k a year. They deserve better pay just as much as Americans do.

Plus, SAG has a requirement of Union actors being on a movie set. Unless you can give a good reason, if you can't get a SAG actor, you ain't getting funded! (Yes, yes, Unions are the problem, I'm sure) I imagine the VA space is similar, so I have my doubts that this won't be effective.

[Moonface]

Though I wonder how much Union VAs striking would really affect things, considering there's tons of non-Union English VAs out there who would gladly take up any work they can get.

Depends on who's being replaced really. Any voice actor that has a large role wouldn't be easy to replace, especially if it's in any live service games where new lines could get added onto existing ones where it would be very obvious the VA has changed. I forget why they did it but Destiny 2 had to get all the voice lines redone for a character which probably wasn't cheap, and if a whole game has to do that it could be a very large sum of money.
Plus if those non union VA's were a worthwhile choice I'd wonder why they weren't chosen over those that are part of a union in the first place.

[Moonface]

SAG-AFTRA Talks With Video Game Industry End With No Deal
After three days of negotiations that ended yesterday, talks between SAG-AFTRA and the gaming companies listed in this post have ended with no agreement.

SAG-AFTRA and video game employers concluded scheduled negotiations for the Interactive Media Agreement. No deal was reached and the current agreement will remain in effect while the parties make final efforts to reach a deal.

No word has yet been given as to whether a strike will occur, but it's highly likely after the 98.32% vote in favor of a strike authorization by SAG-AFTRA members. SAG-AFTRA’s last strike against the gaming companies, which took place in late 2016 and ran into 2017, lasted 183 days.

Source: Deadline

[Moonface]

So I completely forgot all about this ending with no progress made, and despite SAG-AFTRA still trying to reach a desired outcome it hasn't come to fruition after two years; therefore, they have called to strike against major video game companies which goes into effect as of today.

We’re not going to consent to a contract that allows companies to abuse A.I. to the detriment of our members. Enough is enough. When these companies get serious about offering an agreement our members can live — and work — with, we will be here, ready to negotiate.

According to a spokesperson, deals were progressing well:

We are disappointed the union has chosen to walk away when we are so close to a deal, and we remain prepared to resume negotiations. We have already found common ground on 24 out of 25 proposals, including historic wage increases and additional safety provisions. Our offer is directly responsive to SAG-AFTRA’s concerns and extends meaningful AI protections that include requiring consent and fair compensation to all performers working under the IMA. These terms are among the strongest in the entertainment industry.

The companies targeted are the same as those in the first post of this thread:

• Activision Productions Inc
  
• Blindlight LLC
  
• Disney Character Voices Inc.
  
• Electronic Arts Productions Inc.
  
• Formosa Interactive LLC
  
• Insomniac Games Inc.
  
• Epic Games
  
• Take 2 Productions Inc.
  
• VoiceWorks Productions Inc.
  
• WB Games Inc.
  

I'm curious what the remaining proposal was that didn't get met. It must be something substantial for a strike to be called if 24 other proposals were satisfied.

[Moonface]

So I don't know if any other games will see a direct, visible impact but Genshin Impact recently got updated and a lot of the dialogue just lacks voice acting because of this strike: https://www.ign.com/articles/genshin-imp...ing-strike

If the game didn't already have VA or some characters in the update having VA while others don't it probably wouldn't be as weird, because a game like Genshin could just have the characters stay silent like in a lot of JRPG's.

Hopefully this strike actually having an impact on a game release/update like this will put pressure on those necessary to find a resolution to all this.

[Mr EliteL]

Yeah it could just go into text-only like other RPGs, Genshin already does it in minor quests and such. Like I said in the GI topic, I don't like idea of AI taking over jobs, especially one like this that uses voice to just be used instead of a real human and again especially when the game is still on-going with updates. Would be even worse with the entire industry across the globe tried doing it as well, completely omitting VAs and just use AI, frick that. I'd stop playing games all together or any new games that would go down that route even if it was from a beloved franchise I liked.

Anyway hope the strike works out.

[Moonface]

I think the only time I might be okay with AI being used for voice acting would be for indie games where they don't necessarily have the budget to hire a voice actor. But then again, I'd argue if you can't afford it then don't have it like is the case for most if not all things in life that a person isn't able to afford.

Anyways, the strike is continuing due to yet again a lack of progress in negotiations. So little progress in fact that practically nothing seems to have changed since the last update, with 24/25 proposals still agreed to with the remaining one being about the use of AI for motion and performance capture. "Publishers argue that motion capture work is largely used as an amalgamation of actors’ performances in video games and not something producers are capable of accounting for when it comes to compensation", which SAG-AFTRA says are unfounded reasons for a refusal to agree.

Based on the wording I agree with SAG-AFTRA on this. Surely the game companies know who performed for what motion capture, so even if it gets combined you'd know who did what parts right? This is like claiming you can't compensate a portion of your development team because they were collaborating on a particular element so you just don't bother to pay them at all or something.