SAG-AFTRA will remain on strike against the major video game companies, as talks on a new deal have been extended once again.
Negotiations on a new Interactive Media Agreement resumed on Wednesday, marking the first official bargaining dates between the two parties since SAG-AFTRA called a strike in July. Bargaining has continued off-and-on, but the sides have been operating without a contract since November 2022.
So far, no new dates have been announced, and the strike remains in effect until a new deal is made.
Artificial intelligence has been and continues to be the big sticking point in these negotiations. The contract covers voice and performance-capture talent on video games, and the union has repeatedly sounded the alarm on how AI could negatively impact these professions.
Throughout the past three months, SAG-AFTRA has held intermittent pickets at several of the video game companies’ Los Angeles offices, including WB Games and Disney Character Voices. The union hasn’t announced any further pickets, with the last one occurring last week, just before talks resumed.
In another blow to the major companies, the union has been inking deals with more than 100 other video game companies and developers, which have agreed to the terms that SAG-AFTRA claims to also be proposing to this 10-member bargaining unit of the majors.
The gamer companies being struck are Activision Productions, Blindlight, Disney Character Voices, Electronic Arts Productions, Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, Llama Productions, Take 2 Productions and WB Games.
In its most recent statement to Deadline, a spokesperson for the video game companies pushed back on SAG-AFTRA’s characterization of the talks, saying the companies “have worked hard to deliver proposals with reasonable terms that protect the rights of performers while ensuring we can continue to use the most advanced technology to create great entertainment experiences for fans.”
