Video Game Voice Actors Vote Yes on Potential Strike

Several weeks ago, the voice actors’ union SAG-AFTRA initiated a vote to go on strike.

According to SAG-AFTRA, game publishers have refused to negotiate any of these issues. Video game development demands long hours from all involved, but it leans so heavily on the whole “Hollywood” approach that requires such voice and mo-cap actors.

These demands were not met by publishers like Activision and EA after rounds of bargaining, and the vote gives the union the right to declare a strike. Tweets featuring the slogan were meant to encourage members to vote in favor of the strike, as well as increase visibility for what the performers consider to be their undesirable working conditions.

SAG-AFTRA has been in negotiations with the video game industry since its prior agreement expired at the end of 2014. The board required a 75 percent majority to receive authorization from its members. The union’s hope now is that the looming threat of a strike will encourage more fruitful negotiations.

Second, the actors would like protections in place for vocally stressful recording sessions, in the same way that stunt performers are compensated based on the difficulty of a given role. The union feels that this agreement is outdated, and doesn’t appropriately address the modern-day realities and stresses of video game voice acting.

Stunt coordinators on hand for motion capture sessions that may require hard or unsafe physical activity. As it stands, being inattentive and hard to reach on short notice could see voice actors fined as much as $2,500 by an employer, which they see as grossly unfair. Actors may also be asked to work on a project without knowing generally what it’s about or even its name.

Prominent voice actors such as David Hayter (Metal Gear Solid), Jennifer Hale (Mass Effect), and Elias Toufexis (Deus Ex: Human Revolution) have come out in support of the movement, taking to Twitter to voice their solidarity under the #PerformanceMatters hashtag.