Non-RPG General News - Voice Actors Considering a Strike

Gameinformer reports on the potential strike action after negotiations broke down.

A long-running conversation between publishers and voice actors over contract terms may be coming to a head. SAG-AFTRA, the union representing actors (including voice actors) is currently considering a strike to push the matter to resolution.

Chief among the issues under discussion is the matter of "back end bonuses." These are a trade-off, with lower fees for service, but a percentage of the gross. This is becoming more common in film, and now may become a piece of the gaming landscape.

According the FAQ found on the SAG-AFTRA website, the proposal suggests that residual payments not kick in until a game sells 2 million units. The union says that would protect smaller game developers, while allowing actors to earn a piece of what it labels as "blockbusters."

"We're asking for a reasonable performance bonus for every 2 million copies, or downloads sold, or 2 million unique subscribers to online-only games, with a cap at 8 million units/subscribers," the union writes. "That shakes out, potentially, to FOUR bonus payments for the most successful games: 2 million, 4 million, 6 million and 8 million copies."

More information.

They're so angry they're speechless…

When Obsidian got denied there bonus because of a metacritic rating I was annoyed. Would this action potentially help developers get a better deal also?

Originally Posted by rjshae
They're so angry they're speechless…

Wow. Today you win the internet.

The union sounds completely reasonable here. Hope they get what they want,especially considering the two million threshold to protect smaller games.

2 million unique subscribers to an Online doesn't seem realistic. Are F2P games with voice acting that common?

This also can't be a coincidence that a strike might happen just before the Christmas rush.

Originally Posted by Lucky Day
2 million unique subscribers to an Online doesn't seem realistic. Are F2P games with voice acting that common?

This also can't be a coincidence that a strike might happen just before the Christmas rush.

When they say "subscribers", they mean monthly paying subscribers so F2P accounts won't count as "subscribers " (me thinks!)

Originally Posted by Caidh
The union sounds completely reasonable here. Hope they get what they want,especially considering the two million threshold to protect smaller games.

Not entirely. If you read the whole thing, it's not all ok to me. One of the requirements the Union wants from the strike is to forbid publishers from using their own people for voice, and that everybody who does voice acting must join the Union. I can't say I agree with that. It's in this paragraph:

According to the union (and not directly from the publisher representatives, to whom we’ve reached out), the employers have proposed fines for late arrivals on set and fines for agents that don’t send actors out for smaller roles (like ambient voices). SAG-AFTRA also objects to publishers potentially hiring their own employees for voice work without requiring those individuals join the union.

Originally Posted by Wenzil
Wow. Today you win the internet.

Well hurray! I've decided to block all child porn, gambling, illegal drug, and mail-order bride web sites on the internet. Whadda you going to do now, hmm?


Kidding, of course.

Who is actually going to pay for the bonus they are asking for? Because from what I know of the industry, the studio paid to make a game is whom hired the VAs using a budget allocated from the publishers and they don't get any bonuses when a game sell well afterward.

I'm all for unions, but I'm afraid they don't seem to know quite what they are talking about here.

I'd argue that the significance of acting in computer games is simply several orders of magnitude below what it is in films. The quality of the actors' work just doesn't have that much impact on most games' successes.

While I can see employees on the whole getting a cut from a successful game, I cannot see any sense of it being determined by a game's gross sales. That way, large productions are just being penalised for being large, and publishers will be even more risk-averse with them. Give them a cut depending on the game's or even the publisher's annual profits instead, and don't put actors above all other contributors just because they happen to have such a well-positioned union.

Furthermore, does this just concern a few of the big publishers (give 'em hell, I say) or are they threatening to strike across the whole industry? Because that would hurt the smaller ones the most. How will this apply to foreign, how to international productions? How about to small developers who self-publish?

Originally Posted by Moorkh

I'd argue that the significance of acting in computer games is simply several orders of magnitude below what it is in films. The quality of the actors' work just doesn't have that much impact on most games' successes.

The lack of quality of the actors'work is much likely to have an impact.

Except in special cases, players usually do not report high quality in voice acting.
They commonly report the lack of quality.

Poor voice acting is detrimental. It removes from the product.

Considering that the trend is more and more about delivering a story line and less and less about providing gameplay, the importance of voice acting keeps growing.

Poor voice acting is no longer afforded. Decent voice acting at least is demanded.

Few actors in the video product industry are oscar winners. But they provide at least decent voice acting.

Originally Posted by Moorkh
Furthermore, does this just concern a few of the big publishers (give 'em hell, I say) or are they threatening to strike across the whole industry? Because that would hurt the smaller ones the most. How will this apply to foreign, how to international productions? How about to small developers who self-publish?

SAG-AFTRA is an American Union, it has no power outside of the USA (although ACTRA in Canada loves to copycat it and they have a deal with them to cover American working in Canada).

I don't think there is that many professional voice actors (people who do that mostly) that are members, SAG-AFTRA is an Union for actors working on movies, radio and TV. I suspect voice acting is actually not something SAG-AFTRA dealt with at all until some bigwig actor complained about his experience.

One of their request, if accepted, would also require people who aren't members to join (for the nice fee of $3800+ per year) or stop voice acting

Any strike just means that game makers will hire more British and Canadians voice actors and it will just push more game production outside of the USA like it did for TV and Movies.

I think you have a point. After all that fuss a few years ago, suddenly Batman, Superman and Spiderman were all British!

Originally Posted by Ripper
I think you have a point. After all that fuss a few years ago, suddenly Batman, Superman and Spiderman were all British!

That's more because British actors are a lot more competent and better formed not really because of the Unions (aka cost, because all Unions achieve is destroying productivity while creating monopolies and driving the cost up of everything they touch).