SAG-AFTRA Reaches Tentative Contract Deal With Video Game Companies After Nearly a Year on Strike

Yahoo

18 hours ago

In an agreement that could eventually mark the end of a nearly yearlong strike, SAG-AFTRA and major video game companies have reached a tentative deal on a contract agreement.
The performers' union announced the provisional deal on Monday night without getting into specifics on the terms of the agreement. The work stoppage against video game firms will continue until the terms of a strike suspension agreement have been fully hammered out, the union stated.
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With the strike, the union took a stand against proposed AI terms that leaders claimed would have allowed companies to undercut members and their position in the workplace.
SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in a statement on Monday night that the deal indeed 'puts in place the necessary A.I. guardrails that defend performers' livelihoods in the A.I. age, alongside other important gains,' though no specific terms were shared.
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to a representative for the video game companies on the other side of the table for comment.
Voice and performance capture workers have been withholding their services from Activision Productions, Disney Character Voices, Electronic Arts Productions, Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, WB Games, Take 2 Productions, Blindlight and Formosa Interactive since July 2024.
While the union framed its strike as a battle over an existential threat to its members' professions, a representative for the companies countered that the union 'chose to walk away' after the sides 'found common ground' on 24 out of 25 proposals.
The strike was characterized by a series of rolling protests held at the offices of signatory companies in the L.A. area, from Burbank's Formosa Interactive to Santa Monica's Activision Productions.
Prior to Monday's announcement, the parties had been negotiating their agreement for years, with it initially expiring in November 2022. As recently as March, the union was decrying 'alarming loopholes' in the companies' latest AI proposals.
Given the length of the strike and the high stakes of AI in the game industry, members will undoubtedly closely scrutinize the agreement's summary when it is released. The union's national board has yet to weigh in on the deal, while members will also vote on ratification in the coming weeks before the agreement can go into effect.
The union's president, Fran Drescher, struck a careful tone in her statement on Monday night. While she celebrated that 'the needle has been moved forward and we are much better off than before,' she noted that each contract is 'a work in progress' and planning for the next negotiation cycle would begin as soon as this one ends.
SAG-AFTRA national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland and chief contracts officer Ray Rodriguez led the negotiations for the union, and Kauff McGuire & Margolis managing partner William E. Zuckerman bargained on behalf of employers.
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