The voice actors who have helped create the characters in some of the most popular video games in the world will be hitting the picket lines starting on Friday. Today, the SAG-AFTRA actors union called for a strike against the major video game publishers beginning at 12:01 am Pacific time on July 26.
In a press release, SAG-AFTRA stated the strike is against Microsoft-owned Activision Productions Inc. along with the other following companies:
- Blindlight LLC
- Disney Character Voices Inc
- Electronic Arts Productions Inc
- Formosa Interactive LLC
- Insomniac Games Inc
- Llama Productions LLC
- Take 2 Productions Inc
- VoiceWorks Productions Inc
- WB Games Inc.
The union has been in negotiations with all of these companies to get a new contract in place since October 2022. Nearly a year ago, in September 2023, union members voted to approve a strike authorization, with 98.32 percent of the members voting "yes".
While the union says the talks with the video game voice talent companies have come to an agreement on a number of items for a new contract, the biggest sticking points have centered on the use of AI voices for games. The union believes more needs to be done to help protect voice actors from the rise of AI use in video games.
SAG-AFTRA's lead negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland stated that video game voice actors need to have the same protections against the use of AI voices that have been put into place for film and television actors after they went on strike in 2023. He added:
Frankly, it’s stunning that these video game studios haven’t learned anything from the lessons of last year - that our members can and will stand up and demand fair and equitable treatment with respect to A.I., and the public supports us in that
It remains to be seen if the strike will have a major effect on major AAA games that do have fully voiced characters.
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