 Members of the SAG-AFTRA union in the US have voted unanimously to expand their strike into the video games industry. If there's one thing that US video game publishers hate more than piracy and leaks it's unions, and yet in recent years there's been a lot of talk of developers unionising in order to fight unfair work conditions. It's only been baby steps but the obvious model to follow is that of Hollywood, which has unusually strong unions for the US and whose current strike has made it impossible to produce, or even promote, new movies. Previously, that's had no impact on video games but now one of the unions involved has voted to strike in terms of members' video games work, which will make it impossible to record voice acting roles or motion capture. The current Hollywood strike involves multiple different unions, representing directors, writers, producers, actors, and presenters. It's the first time since the 1960s that multiple unions have coordinated their efforts, which are primarily focused on payment for appearing in streaming shows and the use of AI. The latter is also a major concern for video games, and so SAG-AFTRA, which represents actors, recording artists, stunt performers, and voiceover artists, have voted to extend the strike to cover gaming. Companies specifically mentioned by SAG-AFTRA include Activision, EA, Epic Games, Insomniac Games, Take-Two (and by association Rockstar Games), and WB Games. 'Once again we are facing employer greed and disrespect. Once again artificial intelligence is putting our members in jeopardy of reducing their opportunity to work. And once again, SAG-AFTRA is standing up to tyranny on behalf of its members,' said SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher on the official website. 'The disease of greed is spreading like wildfire ready to burn workers out of their livelihoods and humans out of their usefulness. We at SAG-AFTRA say no! Not on our watch!' Although it's uncommon){kind=link}
Members of the SAG-AFTRA union in the US have voted unanimously to expand their strike into the video games industry.
If there’s one thing that US video game publishers hate more than piracy and leaks it’s unions, and yet in recent years there’s been a lot of talk of developers unionising in order to fight unfair work conditions.
It’s only been baby steps but the obvious model to follow is that of Hollywood, which has unusually strong unions for the US and whose current strike has made it impossible to produce, or even promote, new movies.
Previously, that’s had no impact on video games but now one of the unions involved has voted to strike in terms of members’ video games work, which will make it impossible to record voice acting roles or motion capture.
The current Hollywood strike involves multiple different unions, representing directors, writers, producers, actors, and presenters.