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Could the Looming Video Game Strike Cripple the Industry?

Could the Looming Video Game Strike Cripple the Industry?

We very rarely pay a thought to the voice actors who give life to the characters in our games. Usually it’s only when the voice acting is really bad that we tend to talk about it at length, but these men and woman are absolutely vital. Just think back on your favorite Call of Duty game, fighting game, or survival horror game, and think about every person behind a microphone that made that game possible.

Think of the dozens of hours of script reading, auditioning, rehearsing, and going over critical scenes over and over again until the director is satisfied. Imagine how tiring and potentially harmful it can be to grunt, yell, sob, shriek, snarl, and scream at the top of your lungs for an entire work day – for weeks or months at a time. It’s tough work, and a demanding schedule with multiple high-intensity scenes recorded back-to-back can be especially risky for those who make their living using the voices.

In June, the Screen Actors Guild made headlines by calling for an investigation into the video game industry for the mistreatment of voice actors. Though attempted negotiations between the union and game publishers have been ongoing since 2014, things are only recently starting to get serious. SAG, known as SAG-AFTRA after the merger with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, has taken the offensive and demanded that certain terms be met for its members who work in the industry. To that end, it’s organized a strike to commence Friday, October 21. It issued the following statement:

“Through many months of bargaining with interactive employers, we have not reached a fair agreement covering SAG-AFTRA performers working in video games – often the most popular games in the world. Our members have been clear, now is the time for employers to negotiate a modern contract that covers this highly profitable industry… It is imperative that we secure for them the protections, compensation and benefits they deserve.”

The demands are many: better pay for intense voice work, more forgiving work schedules, and residual payment plans are among SAG’s chief concerns. If the “minimum need” of its members is not met, the strike will commence. Any union members who are currently working on games that began development after February 2015 will cease their work. This would affect many of the biggest names in the industry, including EA, Activision, Insomniac, Disney, WB, Take 2, and more. To put that in perspective, games that may be affected include Destiny 2, Insomniac’s Spider Man , and EA’s new Star Wars title directed by Amy Hennig.

Could the Looming Video Game Strike Cripple the Industry?

The law firm representing the industry has responded rather negatively, saying in a statement: “We have negotiated in good faith for the past 18 months with SAG-AFTRA union leaders, and are making progress toward a new contract. We are deeply disappointed to learn today of the union’s threatened strike and its unilateral violation of the mutually agreed upon ‘news black-out’ on negotiation discussions.” The statement went on to say that SAG-AFTRA performers are already paid very handsomely for their work, and that new ways of alleviating vocal distress have been in the works for a long time now. The wording made it sound like SAG-AFTRA was setting up a straw-man for the public to hate in order to drum up support, but it’s hard to know for sure what’s really going on.

It’s probably true that both sides have some concessions to make. Working conditions, payment, and scheduling very likely do need to be improved for these performers. Alternatively, it may be unrealistic to demand double and triple rates for the more intense recording sessions and residual kickbacks. After all, SAG-AFTRA represents only a portion of the available voice talent, and they were quite right to say that video games are huge business now; that means that there are plenty of hungry and determined (and likely equally talented) actors out there just dying to get a shot to voice the next Nathan Drake or Faith Connors.

We hope that mutually beneficial terms can be agreed to. Otherwise, some of our favorite games may end up going through a bit of development hell, and some wonderful people could be left looking for work. Where do you guys stand on the issue? Is the union shooting itself in the foot by driving the industry to seek out less demanding actors, or is this a step in the right direction for the industry as a whole?

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