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SAG-AFTRA members have ratified the 2025 Interactive Media Agreement by an overwhelming majority, signifying an official conclusion to the nearly yearlong video game strike that first began in July of last year.

With a vote of over 95% in favor, the deal’s approval followed last month’s tentative agreement with major video game companies, which then marked the suspension of the strike.

The new contract — made in partnership with Activision Productions Inc., Blindlight LLC, Disney Character Voices Inc., Electronic Arts Productions Inc., Formosa Interactive LLC, Insomniac Games Inc., Llama Productions LLC, Take 2 Productions Inc. and WB Games Inc. — will go into effect immediately.

The agreement provides compounded increases in performer compensation at a rate of 15.17%, plus additional 3% increases in Novembers 2025, 2026 and 2027. The overtime rate maximum for overscale performers will now also be based on double scale. The health & retirement contribution rates to the AFTRA Retirement Fund will now be raised from...

Following an 11-month strike plagued by back-and-forth disputes over Generative AI, SAG-AFTRA has ratified its new contract with major video game companies including Activision, Disney Character Voices, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, Take 2 Productions and WB Games Inc.

Per a joint statement issued by the actors union and the video game companies party to the agreement Wednesday, SAG-AFTRA members approved the 2025 SAG-AFTRA Interactive Media Agreement by a vote of 95.04% to 4.96%.

Among its key stipulations, the deal provides compounded increases in performer compensation at a rate of 15.17% upon ratification plus additional 3% increases in November 2025, November 2026 and November 2027. Additionally, the overtime rate maximum for overscale performers will now be based on double scale. The health & retirement contribution rates to the AFTRA Retirement Fund will now be raised from 16.5% to 17% and then to 17.5% in October 2026.”

The contract “also accomplishes performer safety guardrails and gains around A.I., including...

After more than 10 months on strike, SAG-AFTRA has reached a tentative deal with the major video game companies.

Specific terms of the new Interactive Media Agreement, which the union announced late Monday night, were not immediately available.

Despite the announcement, the union also made clear that members are not back to work quite yet. SAG-AFTRA says it expects to finalize a strike suspension agreement with the employers “soon,” but the work stoppage continues until then.

Now, the National Board will consider the deal before it is put to a ratification vote with the membership.

“Everyone at SAG-AFTRA is immensely grateful for the sacrifices made by video game performers and the dedication of the Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating Committee throughout these many months of the video game strike,” SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in a statement. “Patience and persistence has resulted in a deal that puts in place the necessary A.

SAG-AFTRA has been on strike against major video game studios for more than seven months, and the two sides don’t seem to be particularly close to making a deal.

That’s the impression that negotiators for the performers union gave to members in a message on Tuesday that warned that the companies’ latest proposals contained “alarming loopholes that will leave our members vulnerable to AI abuse” — the very issue that prompted the union’s current work stoppage in the first place.

The memo, which contained a link to a chart showing the alleged gap between the union’s and the employer’s recent proposals on AI, claimed that the labor group is “frustratingly far apart” in its proposals from the video game studios, though the message said the studios might claim otherwise.

A spokesperson for the companies that are negotiating the Interactive Media Agreement with the union stated that...

There’s still no new deal, but talks between SAG-AFTRA and the major video game companies have been extended with new dates to be announced soon.

In the meantime, the guild’s strike against all Interactive Media Agreement signatory companies remains in effect.

“After three days of scheduled negotiations, SAG-AFTRA announced that Interactive Media Agreement negotiations with employers would continue, with new dates to be announced as soon as they are confirmed,” the guild said in a statement Saturday morning.

The two sides resumed talks on Oct. 23, almost exactly three months after the strike began. Among the participating video game companies are Activision Productions Inc., Blindlight LLC, Disney Character Voices Inc., Electronic Arts Productions Inc., Formosa Interactive LLC, Insomniac Games Inc., Llama Productions LLC, Take 2 Productions Inc., and WB Games Inc. on Oct. 23.

When the strike was declared in July, performers had been working on video games without a contract...

SAG-AFTRA threw quite the punch in the ongoing fight over its Interactive Media Agreement on Thursday, revealing that 80 video games and developers have now signed tiered-budget or interim agreements with the union to continue hiring its performers amid the strike.

The studios who have agreed to SAG-AFTRA’s terms include Studio Wildcard and Little Bat Games, according to the union.

The guild also said that some games that have finished production — and therefore would not be subject to this strike or need to sign a new agreement — have voluntarily signed an interim agreement to retroactively provide AI protections for those works.

“These agreements signal that the video game companies in the collective bargaining group do not represent the will of the larger video game industry. The many companies that are happy to agree to our A.I. terms prove that these terms are not only reasonable, but feasible and sustainable for businesses,...

Updated with additional interim agreements

Video game company Lightspeed L.A. has signed a SAG-AFTRA interim Interactive Media Agreement that allows it to continue production with union performers even as the strike against other major video game publishers winds into its sixth week.

The deal will apply to current and future Lightspeed L.A. games. The company is home to the game “Last Sentinel,” which is the studio’s first title to move forward under the new agreement. SAG-AFTRA is on strike against Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Warner Bros. Games and other major publishers. The union is asking for tougher curbs on the use of AI to create digital replicas of performers and their voice or likeness, as well as higher minimums to address the impact of inflation in recent years.

Updated: On Sept. 5, SAG-AFTRA unveiled another 80 game titles that have signed interim deals to allow production work to continue.

As SAG-AFTRA’s video game strike continues, the union stated on Thursday that 80 games were signed to agreements with the labor group that will allow them to continue work with union performers during the labor dispute.

By signing on to either SAG-AFTRA’s interim agreement or tiered-budget agreement, developers on these titles can employ SAG-AFTRA performers while actors are abstaining from struck companies. Though the union did not specify the games that are working under these agreements, in statements some companies identified as signatories.

“Little Bat Games is proud to work with SAG-AFTRA in ensuring that top-tier voice talent is appropriately compensated and protected,” the two-year-old studio said in a statement. “As a small studio working on a game about psychology, we always advocate protecting human interests and appreciate SAG-AFTRA’s help to keep the industry accountable.”

Added Studio Wildcard development director Jeremy Stieglitz, “Studio Wildcard partners with production company...

SAG-AFTRA has inked a deal with video game company Lightspeed L.A. to produce content under an Interim Interactive Media Agreement as the union continues its fight against the major studios over AI provisions.

The guild called a strike against 10 major video game companies just over a month ago, after more than 18 months of negotiations. While Lightspeed L.A. was not originally one of the signatories of the Interactive Media Agreement, the studio’s co-sign on SAG-AFTRA’s version of the proposed contract is somewhat of a chink in the armor for the other companies, who have remained steadfast in their own proposed provisions.

Having agreed to the Interim Agreement, Lightspeed can now hire SAG-AFTRA performers amid the strike.

“I am delighted to be partnering with Lightspeed L.A. Their upcoming game may be set in a world of technology run amok, but by agreeing to equitable terms, they’re working...

It was a scene that produced a sense of déjà vu: a line of performers carrying SAG-AFTRA signs and walking in circles under the blazing Burbank summer sun.

This time, however, the group wasn’t film and television actors calling on studios to cede more ground on an array of demands like greater compensation in the streaming age and more comprehensive AI protections, as they did during the 2023 actors’ strike. (There were, still, some film and TV actors present.) One year later, video game performers in the same union, SAG-AFTRA, were picketing the Disney Character Voices building in Burbank as the labor group remains deadlocked with major gaming companies over an issue that one performer called “existential”: AI.

Thursday’s event was the second picket organized by SAG-AFTRA after the union called a strike against video game companies on July 25. Performers first demonstrated outside of Warner Bros. Games...

SAG-AFTRA video game actors will mark the start of the fourth week since declaring a strike with a picket line against Disney on Thursday, Aug. 15.

Participants will demonstrate outside Disney Character Voices, located at 2600 W. Olive Avenue in Burbank (91505), from 9:00 a.m. to noon. There are parking structures located nearby on Frederick, as well as 2-hour street parking available in various nearby locations.

The picket line will be attended by Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating Committee chair Sarah Elmaleh and committee members Andi Norris, Seth Allyn Austin as well as SAG-AFTRA leadership including National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. Other SAG-AFTRA members, labor allies and video game fans are expected as well.

The guild’s video game performers went on strike against the major video game developers covered under the Interactive Media Agreement at Midnight on July 26. As was the case in 2023 with the simultaneous Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA strikes, negotiators...

Voice actors will be hitting the picket lines Thursday, as SAG-AFTRA announced the first in-person action against one of 10 major video game companies impacted by the Interactive Media Agreement strike.

The picket will take place at WB Games Inc. in Los Angeles from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Pt, with members asked to gather at Gate 5 of the studio lot.

Leadership will be in attendance, including SAG-AFTRA Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating (Ima) Committee members Sarah Elmaleh (Chair), Zeke Alton, Ashly Burch, and Andi Norris as well as National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.

The picket announcement comes after the rest of the Hollywood unions through their support behind SAG-AFTRA’s latest strike in a joint statement on Tuesday.

The statement came from the American Federation of Musicians (AFM), Directors Guild of America (DGA), International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 40 (Ibew), International Brotherhood of...

Just a few hours into their strike against the major video game companies, SAG-AFTRA made some noise at San Diego Comic-Con by speaking about the “existential threat” of artificial intelligence, which they say has been holding up a new deal for nearly two years.

At a convention panel Friday morning, Ashly Burch, Noshir Dalal, Sarah Elmaleh and Shannon Woodward received a resounding round of applause from fans as they discussed the work stoppage (and sported SAG-AFTRA strike shirts).

“A.I. is a huge concern — and especially a huge concern for our professions, for voice actors and movement performers,” said Burch, who is known for her roles in Mythic Quest and Horizon Forbidden West. “So we have to take a stand, because the protections that our employers put across the table are woefully insufficient and are going to put a lot, a lot, a lot of people out of work.”

Burch...

SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator and executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland called for a strike against video game companies on Thursday after more than a year and a half of bargaining for a new contract for video game performers. The strike, tied to the Interactive Media Agreement, goes into effect Friday at 12:01 a.m.

The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists wrote in a press release that the union was unable to reach an agreement with video game companies around AI protections, stating, “the employers refuse to plainly affirm,...

For close to two years, SAG-AFTRA has been in talks with major video game companies on a new contract agreement that would cover voice and performance capture workers on titles from Disney Character Voices, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Warner Bros. Games, Insomniac Games and more.

Now, at an impasse over artificial intelligence concerns, the union’s chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland has called a strike.

“We’re not going to consent to a contract that allows companies to abuse AI to the detriment of our members. Enough is enough,” stated SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher. “When these companies get serious about offering an agreement our members can live — and work — with, we will be here, ready to negotiate.”

The move has been signaled for nearly a year. Last September, nearly 35,000 of the union’s members voted to authorize a strike (with 98 percent of members in favor) against the major gaming companies over the agreement,...

SAG-AFTRA is going on strike again.

This time, the union is calling a work stoppage against the major video game companies after nearly two years of trying to renegotiate its Interactive Media Agreement. The decision to hit the picket lines comes 10 months after the union’s initial strike authorization vote. The strike goes into effect July 26 at 12:01 a.m.

The 10 companies facing the strike 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.

“We’re not going to consent to a contract that allows companies to abuse A.I. to the detriment of our members. Enough is enough. When these companies get serious about offering an agreement our members can live — and work — with, we will be here, ready to negotiate,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in a statement.

As SAG-AFTRA remains locked in tense negotiations with video game giants, the actors union has released a new contract designed to cover a larger number of indie and lower-budget gaming projects and create “pressure” in the bargaining room with major companies.

The union’s new Tiered-Budget Independent Interactive Media Agreement, announced Wednesday, contains provisions — especially on AI — that major companies involved in SAG-AFTRA’s ongoing Interactive Media Agreement talks have resisted, according to SAG-AFTRA national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. He compared the new deal to SAG-AFTRA’s interim agreements, which allowed members to work on independent projects during the union’s 2023 film and television strike. “I think it’s really going to highlight, like the interim agreements did last year, the unreasonableness that some of these video game companies are bringing to our attempts to negotiate a deal that provides just basic fair protection to our members who are working in video games,...

Tango Gameworks' Hi-Fi Rush has amassed an impressive cast to bring its charismatic characters to life. Hi-Fi Rush is a huge change in tone from Tango Gameworks' previous titles such as the horror of The Evil Within, or the psychic and paranormal Ghostwire: Tokyo, as Hi-Fi Rush’s mixture of colorful visuals and catchy, rhythm-based gameplay seems to have generated immediate intrigue that evokes memories of games such as Sunset Overdrive and Jet Set Radio.

Hi-Fi Rush follows wannabe rockstar Chai after a corporate experiment leaves him with a robotic arm and a music player embedded in his chest, giving him the ability to feel the rhythm of the world around him. Over the course of the game, Chai fights back against the evil robotic enhancement megacorp that experimented on him, Vandelay, by using his newfound abilities through rhythm-based gameplay similar to Metal: Hellsinger or Bpm: Bullets Per Minute to...

SAG-AFTRA and the AFL-CIO will host their third annual Labor Innovation & Technology Summit on Friday – a full-day virtual program bringing together union, technology, entertainment and media leaders to discuss the future of work.

This year’s Summit will include discussions with key industry leaders & influencers on:

• The rise of streaming services

• The changing business model for content distribution

• Emerging uses for volumetric video

• Combatting deepfakes

• Gaming and voiceover trends

• How innovation and Covid-19 are impacting essential workers

SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris will open the event, which will include keynote speeches by Liz Shuler, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, and Tristan Harris, co-founder and president of the Center for Humane Technology.

David White, SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director, will discuss the HBO-Warner Bros. deal that shattered conventional film distribution models and its potential impact on the industry.

Click here to register for the program, which is free and open to the public.

Late last year, developer MidBoss announced that they would be bringing their debut effort Read Only Memories to the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in 2016. After months of waiting, the studio finally revealed that their cyberpunk adventure will launch on Sony consoles on August 16.

Newly rechristened as 2064: Read Only Memories, the title transports players to Neo-San Francisco, 2064 A.D. You play as a struggling journalist whose life is interrupted by the arrival of a Rom (Relationship and Organizational Manager) named Turing. Soon enough, the two of you are thrown into a deep mystery that begins as a missing persons case, but develops into something much more complicated.

Back when the title was originally released on PC, there was no voice acting for any of the numerous denizens of Neo-San Francisco. MidBoss was able to make due with enthralling written text and animation. For this pseudo-Director’s Cut edition of Read Only Memories,...