Video game actors’ strike ends after tentative deal is reached

The video game actors' strike was suspended Wednesday after a tentative deal with game publishers was announced, bringing an end to the union’s nearly yearlong walkout.

The video game actors' strike was suspended Wednesday after a tentative deal with game publishers was announced, bringing an end to the union’s nearly yearlong walkout.

The previous Interactive Media Agreement between the actors and video game companies, which expired in July 2022, did not have any protections for artificial intelligence, according to the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), which counts 2,600 voice actors, stunt performers, motion capture and performance capture actors among its members. 

The performers began striking last July.

Activision Productions, Blindlight, Disney Character Voices, Electronic Arts Productions, Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, Llama Productions, Take 2 Productions and WB Games were among the struck video game companies. The strike also applied to specific games on a case-by-case basis. 

The future of generative AI — and how it can be used to replace labor — was a crucial sticking point for actors and writers during last year’s Hollywood strikes. While the actors and writers unions came to deals with studios in 2023, negotiations between video game actors and major game developers continued.