It’s official — the video game voice actor and performer strike is over.
The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) confirmed it had reached a “tentative agreement” on the interactive media contract earlier this week, potentially bringing to an end almost a year of industrial action across the video game industry. Now SAG-AFTRA has formally suspended strike action as of noon PT yesterday (June 11).
The SAG-AFTRA video game strike was instigated back in July 2024 after the union and the major game companies — Activision, Blindlight, Disney Character Voices, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, Take 2 Productions, and WB Games — that sit on the board failed to agree on AI provisions. Over 98% of members subsequently voted to strike.
While the union hasn’t quite signed everything off — there’s a special meeting later today, June 12, to consider the agreement — if all goes well, the paperwork will then be sent out to the union’s membership for ratification.
Not only does that mean video game performers can get back to work, it should also mean less disruption for players and their favorite games. Players reported that a number of ongoing games such as Destiny 2 and World of Warcraft appeared to leave some NPCs unvoiced in otherwise voiced scenes, likely due to the strike, and late last year, SAG-AFTRA struck League of Legends after Riot allegedly tried to subvert the strike by canceling a game in response. Activision also confirmed Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 characters were recast after players expressed concern about new voices, and Epic Games is facing an unfair labor charge after SAG-AFTRA filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) when the company implemented an AI-voiced Darth Vader NPC in Fortnite.
If you’re wondering if the industrial action was necessary, this story from Horizon actor Ashly Burch may help. In a now-deleted video, Sony Interactive Entertainment director of software engineering, Sharwin Raghoebardajal, has a conversation with an AI-powered Aloy via voice prompts and AI-generated speech and facial animations.
The voice heard coming from Aloy’s mouth was clearly not that of Burch, but rather a robotic voice similar to those heard from text-to-speech voice generators. AI Aloy’s facial movements are stiff, and her eyes appear lifeless as she converses with Raghoebardajal.
“You have to get our consent before you make an AI version of us in any form, you have to compensate us fairly, and you have to tell us how you’re using this AI double,” Burch said at the time. “I love this industry and this art form so much, and I want there to be a new generation of actors. I want there to be so many more incredible game performances. I want to be able to continue to do this job. If [the union and striking performers] don’t win, that future is really compromised.”
Photo by VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
