Voice actors’ union takes strike action over royalties and safety
Representatives of video-game publishing brand the move self-defeating
After almost two years of negotiations, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists has declared a strike against the video game industry.
The organisation, which is the leading labour union in the US for video game voice actors, declared the strike in a statement released late last week.
The union is asking for, among other things, royalty pay and better safety concerns for actors. Unlike film actors, video game voice actors aren't always getting more money if a game sells especially well.
The process of recording voice overs for video games can be physically strenuous. Recording sessions can be long and demanding on a voice actor’s vocal chords, especially if screaming is involved. Plenty of games incorporate performance capture into the process as well, meaning voice actors sometimes have to physically act out their scenes rather than stand in a recording booth.
The strike is not all-encompassing. According to Polygon, the union represents about 25 per cent of video game voice actors.
The is also only protesting against a select group of major video game companies, including Electronic Arts and Disney. Union members are not to work with these companies on any games that started production after February 17, 2015.
