SAG-AFTRA video game performers are voting to authorize a strike, too
On Oct. 21, 2016, video game performers went on strike against 11 video game companies, including Activision, Disney, Electronic Arts, Insomniac Games, Take-Two Interactive, and WB Games. Video game performers who were part of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) stopped working for nearly a year, from October 2016 to November 2017 — the longest strike in SAG-AFTRA’s history.
After roughly 340 days, video game performers reached an agreement with the group of video game companies, addressing concerns over pay, transparency, and vocal stress. The three-year agreement was expected to expire in 2020, but the contract was extended twice, to 2022 and to 2023.
After six years, SAG-AFTRA members and at least 10 video game companies are heading back to the bargaining table once again on Sept. 26 — and SAG-AFTRA is hoping to start the negotiations with a strike authorization in its hands. SAG-AFTRA said on Sept. 1, when its national board voted to authorize the strike vote, that video game companies haven’t addressed issues about wages keeping up with inflation, nor have they introduced protections against AI use.
A strike authorization vote doesn’t mean that video game performers are definitely going on strike again. Instead, it signals to the group of video game companies negotiating with SAG-AFTRA that union members are serious about getting a fair contract — so serious that they’re willing to withhold their labor for it, if need be.
Should SAG-AFTRA video game performers end up going on strike, though, they’ll join colleagues striking for a new TV, theatrical, and streaming contract; those SAG-AFTRA members went on strike on July 14, joining TV and movie writers with the
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