Hollywood's video game performers authorize strike if labor talks fail
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[September 26, 2023]
By Danielle Broadway
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Video game voice actors and motion capture
performers have voted to authorize a strike if negotiations on a new
labor contract fail, setting the stage for another possible work
stoppage in Hollywood.
After voting closed on Monday, the SAG-AFTRA union said 98.32% of those
who cast ballots had voted in favor of authorizing a strike.
The union is scheduled to begin contract talks with gaming companies on
Tuesday.
SAG-AFTRA is the same union representing film and television actors who
went on strike in July, putting Hollywood in the midst of two
simultaneous work stoppages for the first time in 63 years.
In May, roughly 11,500 Writers Guild of America members walked off the
job. The writers union reached a preliminary labor agreement with major
studios on Sunday.
The SAG-AFTRA agreement covering video game performers expired last
November and has been extended on a monthly basis as the union
negotiated with major video game companies.
The most pressing issues for SAG-AFTRA are higher pay, medical treatment
and breaks for motion capture performers, and protection against
artificial intelligence (AI).
These worries echo those brought by Hollywood writers and SAG-AFTRA
members under a different contract.
“This is at an inflection point for our industry. In particular with AI,
because right now there aren’t any protections,” Ashly Burch, “Horizon
Zero Dawn” video game voice actor, told Reuters.
“So, there’s every possibility that someone could sign a contract and be
signing away the right to their voice or their movement," Burch added.
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The iconic Hollywood sign is shown in early morning light in Los
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SAG-AFTRA is seeking wage increases
for video game performers, saying their pay has not kept pace with
inflation, and more protections for the motion-capture performers
who wear markers or sensors on the skin or a body suit to help game
makers create characters' movements.
The union is asking for "on-camera performers to have the same five
minutes per hour rest period that off-camera performers are entitles
to," SAG-AFTRA said in a statement on its website.
The union will be negotiating with large video game companies,
including Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Formosa
Interactive and others.
“We will continue to negotiate in good faith to reach an agreement
that reflects the important contributions of SAG-AFTRA-represented
performers in video games," Audrey Cooling said Monday on behalf of
the video game companies, following the strike authorization vote
results.
"We have reached tentative agreements on over half of the proposals
and are optimistic we can find a resolution at the bargaining."
(Reporting by Danielle Broadway; Editing by Himani Sarkar and
Michael Perry)
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