Sag-Aftra puts his video game strike in the rear view mirror.
The 11 -month strike by the interpreters’ union was highlighted on Wednesday while the members voted massively to ratify a work agreement with large interactive companies, which are collectively behind franchises like Call of duty And Marvel Spider-Man.
More than 95% of the members of the vote supported the agreement concluded in early June, while less than five percent expressed their opposition, said Sag-Aftra on Wednesday.
The union’s strike began in July 2024 and extended until June 2025, when the negotiators concluded a provisional agreement and Sag-Aftra then suspended the work stoppage. The agreement – of which the predecessor originally expired in November 2022 – took a unusually long time, three years, to hammer.
The National Executive Director of the Syndicate, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, hosted the head of the union’s action in a press release. “We all at Sag-Aftra would like to extend our deepest appreciation to video game interpreters and allies who have endured many sacrifices throughout the 11-month strike,” he said. “Now that the agreement is ratified, video game artists will be able to take advantage of significant gains and important AI protections, on which we will continue to rely on the uses of this Settle and Evolve technology.”
During the strike, actors in the capture of performance and voice ceased to work for household names such as Activision Productions, Electronic Arts Productions and Insomniac Games. The voices of Disney, Formosa Interactive, WB Games, Take 2 Productions, Blindlight and Llama Productions were also subjected to work.
The union led the stage as a necessary rampart against the exploited and the counter-decline of their artists. The parties had concluded an agreement on 24 proposals out of 25 when Sag-Aftra decided to move away from the table in July 2024, a representative of employers said at the time, the AI providing the breakdown.
In a Wednesday declaration, the same representative for video game companies praised changes in the agreement in wages and the language on AI and health and safety. “We are impatient to rely on the partnership of our industry with the union and to continue to create revolutionary entertainment experiences for billions of players around the world,” said spokesperson Audrey Cooling.
The agreement offers long terms to oblige companies to obtain the consent of union artists before creating digital replicas of their image or their voice and to compensate for these actors for the time spent to create them. During a strike, the agreement allows members to suspend their consent.
Financially, the agreement provides sweetening for ratification, all wages being immediately increased by 15.17%, the members of the union approving the agreement. The contract then offers salary increases of 3% for each year of the contract.
The contract also establishes periods of rest of five minutes for artists in front of the camera after each hour of work and increases the rate of contribution of the health and retirement of employers from 16.5% to 17.5% by October 2026.
