SAG-AFTRA votes for strike against video game makers

by Olafimihan Oshin - 09/26/23 1:07 PM ET

FILE - A sign outside the Activision building in Santa Monica, Calif., June 21, 2023. Microsoft revamped its bid to buy video game maker Activision Blizzard on Tuesday Aug. 22, 2023, to appease British competition regulators, who are the last major hurdle to closing one of the biggest deals in tech history. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File) — FILE – A sign outside the Activision building in Santa Monica, Calif., June 21, 2023. Microsoft revamped its bid to buy video game maker Activision Blizzard on Tuesday Aug. 22, 2023, to appease British competition regulators, who are the last major hurdle to closing one of the biggest deals in tech history. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)

SAG-AFTRA, a union representing many Hollywood actors, said its members have voted in favor of launching a strike against video game companies, a move that comes amid the group’s broader strike against film and TV studios.

In a statement Tuesday, the union said that about 98 percent of its members voted in favor of authorizing a strike against major video game firms, including Activision, Take 2 Productions Inc., Electronic Arts Productions Inc. and Epic Games.

The union said that the companies refused to meet on its members’ grievances, which include an increase on salary wages, protections around exploitative uses of artificial intelligence and basic safety precautions.

“It’s time for the video game companies to stop playing games and get serious about reaching an agreement on this contract,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, the star of 1990s hit sitcom “The Nanny,” said in a statement.

“The result of this vote shows our membership understands the existential nature of these negotiations, and that the time is now for these companies — which are making billions of dollars and paying their CEOs lavishly — to give our performers an agreement that keeps performing in video games as a viable career.”

“We will continue to negotiate in good faith to reach an agreement that reflects the important contributions of SAG-AFTRA-represented performers in video games,” Audrey Cooling, a spokesperson representing the video game producers party to the Interactive Media Agreement, said in a statement to The Hill.

“We have reached tentative agreements on over half of the proposals and are optimistic we can find a resolution at the bargaining table.”

SAG-AFTRA is also two months into a strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

Updated at 2:42 pm.

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