Strike against video game publishers to continue amid extended SAG-AFTRA contract negotiations, new dates to be set for next round of bargaining

LOS ANGELES, Oct 27 — The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strike against major video game publishers will continue, as the union has extended contract negotiations with the employers.

The decision follows lack of a resolution over the ongoing dispute over the Interactive Media Agreement after three days of scheduled talks concluded this week.

Negotiations on a new Interactive Media Agreement had resumed on Wednesday, marking the first official bargaining dates between the two parties since SAG-AFTRA called a strike in July.

All partie have been operating without a contract since November 2022.

No new dates have been announced, and the strike remains in effect until a new deal is made.

Prior to returning to the negotiating table with the corporate gaming side Wednesday, SAG-AFTRA announced more than 120 video game titles had signed either SAG-AFTRA’s proposed Interim Media Agreement or the indie developer-focused Tiered-Budget Independent Interactive Agreement, as the strike is largely handled on a title by title basis rather than studio by studio.

“The SAG-AFTRA strike against all signatories to the Interactive Media Agreement began in July and remains in effect. No further comment is available at this time,” stated the union, as reported by Variety.

Companies included in the video game companies’ bargaining committee are Activision Productions, Blindlight, Disney Character Voices, Electronic Arts Productions, Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, Llama Productions, Take 2 Productions and WB Games.

Artificial intelligence has been and continues to be the big sticking point in negotiations, with agreement reached on 24 items in a 25-item proposal, surrounding uses of generative AI in games, particularly in regard to motion and performance capture.

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.