SAG-AFTRA gaming strike could drag on
The SAG-AFTRA strike against the video game industry is three weeks in and it looks like it could stretch out for weeks or even months, as both sides are no closer to reaching a resolution.
Deadline.com is reporting that the companies are so far unwilling to compromise on the key issue of residuals and roughly 400 SAG-AFTRA members picketed WB Games, Inc. and Voiceworks Productions, Inc. in Burbank, Calif. In addition, the actors union has claimed that the 11 video game corporations that are targeted by the strikers have hired a PR firm and set up a “deceptive SAG-AFTRA website and Twitter handle.
This bad blood stems from the ongoing dispute between those select video game producers and the union, seeking a fair contract for actors and larger cut of royalties. SAG-AFTRA called for the strike on October 21.
The union is set to hold out as long as it takes to get a fair deal. The crux of the deal is that the union wants the industry to accept residuals as a key component of compensation, just as it was for the TV industry after the SAG strike of 1955 and the film industry since the actors strike of 1960, according to the Deadline story.
The gaming companies have responded, claiming that SAG-AFTRA has less than 25 per cent market share in video games and that performers only work for several days on the product while designers and developers work for months.
"SAG-AFTRA is striking against the very video game companies that are its biggest advocates — and largest clients of SAG-AFTRA talent — in an industry that overwhelmingly uses non-union performers," said a spokesperson for the gaming companies, according to a story by the Hollywood Reporter.
The union refuses to back down. In several months, SAG-AFTRA will begin negotiations for a bigger contract with film and television, which is why it wants to hold steadfast on negotiations with the much smaller game industry. Those higher stakes mean that the union cannot show weakness on any front. So look for the strike to grind on for a while longer.