SAG-AFTRA has confirmed that its scheduled talks with the video game industry have ended. The result? No deal.
A statement from the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has confirmed that the discussions have now ended with no deal in sight.
“SAG-AFTRA and video game employers concluded scheduled negotiations for the Interactive Media Agreement,” they confirmed. “No deal was reached and the current agreement will remain in effect while the parties make final efforts to reach a deal.”
It sounds as though there may still be hope that video game producers can reach a deal with SAG-AFTRA, but the pressure is certainly on. The SAG-AFTRA National Board voted unanimously to send the strike authorization vote to members back at the start of the month. Then, just a few days ago, SAG-AFTRA members voted overwhelmingly to authorize strike action against 10 major video game studios should a new deal not be made.
“The result of this vote shows our membership understands the existential nature of these negotiations,” said SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher. “And that the time is now for these companies — which are making billions of dollars and paying their CEOs lavishly — to give our performers an agreement that keeps performing in video games as a viable career.”
The studios affected are Activision Productions Inc., Blindlight LLC, Disney Character Voices Inc., Electronic Arts Productions Inc., Epic Games, Inc., Formosa Interactive LLC, Insomniac Games Inc., Take 2 Productions Inc., VoiceWorks Productions Inc., and WB Games Inc.
Although a deal has not yet been made, it does sound as though there was some progress. After all, the studios had come to an agreement on many of the issues raised even before talks took place.
“We will continue to negotiate in good faith to reach an agreement that reflects the important contributions of SAG-AFTRA-represented performers in video games,” said spokesperson Audrey Cooling in a statement before the now-finished talks. “We have reached tentative agreements on over half of the proposals and are optimistic we can find a resolution at the bargaining table.”
The issues are largely the same as those raised by film and TV actors in SAG-AFTRA's ongoing strike, including wage disputes and issues with artificial intelligence.
Although no strike action has been raised (yet) it certainly looms over proceedings as the ongoing Hollywood actor’s strike has brought productions grinding to a halt.
Want to read more about the Hollywood strikes? Check out why SAG-AFTRA voted to authorize a video game strike as well as how fans can support the ongoing Hollywood strike.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
