Hollywood's video game performers authorize strike if labor talks fail (updated)

Activision Blizzard

26/09/2023 03:06

(Adds more details about the strike authorization, on
background and quotes from video game voice actors)
    By Danielle Broadway
       LOS ANGELES, Sept 25 (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.
    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  ATVI.O , Electronic
Arts  EA.O , Epic Games, Formosa Interactive and others.
    “We all want a fair contract that reflects the important
contributions of SAG-AFTRA-represented performers in an industry
that delivers world-class entertainment to billions of gamers
around the world," spokesperson Audrey Cooling said in a
statement issued on behalf of the video game companies.


 (Reporting by Danielle Broadway; Editing by Himani Sarkar and
Michael Perry)
 ((Danielle.Broadway@thomsonreuters.com;))