SAG-AFTRA has authorised a strike against video game companies

The WGA strike may be over but SAG-AFTRA just overwhelmingly voted to authorise a strike against video game companies.

The whole entertainment industry has been in a tense standoff since the Writer’s Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild went on strike. But after months of controversies and weeks of negotiations, the WGA have finally reached an agreement with the major film studios. SAG-AFTRA are currently next to negotiate, and everyone is hoping the outcome will be favourable.

But as the curtain drops on the strike against film studios, another threatens to rise. Just after the WGA announced coming to an agreement with the movie studios, SAG-AFTRA announced that it has authorised a strike—this time against video game companies.

SAG-AFTRA has authorised a strike against video game companies

The original SAG-AFTRA agreement that covered video game actors ended in November and renewed every month as negotiations continued. According to the guild, however, negotiations have broken down.

“Throughout the negotiations, the companies have refused to offer acceptable terms on some of the issues most critical to our members, including wages that keep up with inflation, protections around exploitative uses of artificial intelligence, and basic safety precautions,” said the announcement on SAG-AFTRA’s websitewebsite. 

“After five rounds of bargaining, it has become abundantly clear that the video game companies aren’t willing to meaningfully engage on the critical issues: compensation undercut by inflation, unregulated use of AI and safety,” said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator. 

An authorisation of a strike doesn’t mean a strike will definitely happen. Negotiations are still ongoing, but if they continue to break down, the union can immediately call for one. The BBC has reported that a spokesperson representative of the video game companies said, “We have reached tentative agreements on over half of the proposals and are optimistic we can find a resolution at the bargaining table.”