The 340-day strike for The Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has reached an end. A tentative agreement has been made between the voice actors and 11 Video game companies: Activision, Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, and more. The strike began on October 21st, 2016. SAG-AFTRA was striking for four issues: Transparency on voice acting contracts, prevent stress on extensive vocal sessions, stunt coordinators available for on hand performance capture studios, and bonus pay depending on sales of the game.
- Not every voice actor knows what game their voices will be in. Often, voice actors are contracted for a specific role, sent to a recording studio, and then given a script. This is more relevant on actors playing small characters or NPC’s.
- Voice acting sessions can become quite straining on vocal cords depending on the role. Grunts, screams, and battle lines session can become strenuous and taxing. Some actors claimed they were forced to shout for hours which can cause permanent damage to vocal cords.
- Some voice actors are requesting to perform certain stunts for performance captures in the game. To save money, most companies will not hire professional stunt actors for roles but rather have their on-hand voice actors perform the action.
- The biggest issues were the request for bonus pay based on video game sales. The original request from SAG-AFTRA was a full day’s pay for each 500,000 units sold. Certain games sell extremely well but voice actors are not compensated for their “efforts in improving sales.”
Not everything was achieved but so far SAG-AFTRA is considering the negotiation to be a big step forward. An alternative form of payment was agreed upon but not based on sales of the game. Voice actors will receive a bonus of $75 for their first session and end up with a total bonus of $21,000 for 10 sessions.
“This is an important advance in this critical industry space. We secured a number of gains including for the first time, a secondary payment structure which was one of the members’ key concerns,” said SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris. “The bonus payments we have now are significantly larger now than what we had 11 months ago. The existence of additional payments beyond your session fee is in the video game world for good, both in our high-budget and independent promulgated agreements” said Keythe Farley, chair of the SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee”
Voice actors will also receive more transparency from Video game studios. They will know the project code names, the genre, whether it is a sequel or part of a previous IP or if it is a recurring role.
“Members are also protected by the disclosure of whether they will be required to use unusual terminology, profanity or racial slurs, whether there will be content of a sexual or violent nature and whether stunts will be required,” said chief contracts officer Roy Rodriguez.
The contract also contains an “employer commitment” regarding issues of long video recording sessions. The agreement isn’t finished. SAG-AFTRA’s national board will review the contract at its next meeting in October.
Arguments against the Strike:
SAG-AFTRA doesn’t represent every video game voice actor. They make up 25% of the industries voice acting talent. 40% of the top-selling games don’t even use SAG-AFTRA voice actors.
Release date: October 6th, 2017. A remake of the GBA game but with a new minion mode! It’ll be a new experience where you play as Bowser’s Minions (Goombas, Koopa Troopers, Shy Guys, Etc.) trying to find their master. Amibo will add stamps to give you free items and equipment for the game.
Release date: January 19, 2018. A Kirby party game. It comes with a variety of different game modes. Kirby Battle Arena: Fight with special powers until you’re the last Kirby left. Horde Chest Mode where you try and grab as much treasure as you can. A team boss battle was shown and more is to be announced. There is a single player story mode and Online and Ranked Matches.
Release date: September 29th, 2017. One of the biggest games in Japan at the moment, a new improved version of Yokai Watch 2 which comes with new monsters and areas. Think of it like the Yellow Version of Yokai Watch 2.
Release date: October 6, 2017. Play a new Layton game! But now you play as his daughter in the 7th installment of the Professor Layton series. Plus you have new allies and an adorable dog.
Release date: September 13th, 2017 (Today) digitally. The Physical edition will release at a later date. Another way to play Minecraft on the go. It’ll come with texture packs, skins, and survival and creative mode. Their main selling point is that there is a touch screen. If for whatever reason you wanted a portable Minecraft besides the iPhone or PlayStation Vita, here it is.
Release date: November 10th, 2017. The top 100 Mario Party mini games from all 10 main console games. It comes with download play, so your friends can play with you without even owning the game if they own a Nintendo 3DS. Personally, the fun part was screwing over your friends and taking their stars. While the mini-games were fun for a bit, the real fun of Mario Party was the intense pressure to win the overall board.
Release date: September 15th, 2017. Finally a real Metroid game. It’ll come with new weapons, melee attacks, and even new bosses that aren’t Ridley! But that winged jerk is totally back. The new armors look amazing and more than just a recolor in this game.
Release date: Early 2018. An old school RPG where you play as 9 different characters. It’ll have a new gameplay style so don’t worry about falling into the tropes of old JRPGs. Each character will have their own story and start at different parts of the story. Eventually, all 9 will meet up to combine the story into 1. It was released early this year in Japan. The reviews were fairly average.
Release date: Early 2018. A cult classic JRPG that was released late in the DS life cycle. It’s an amazing game that revolves around time travel. The gameplay is really unique and it involves heavy thinking. The beginning is a bit slow but once the story starts rolling, Radiant Historia becomes a blast to play. It will come with a new subplot: Sub-History which revolves around a new character: Nemesia.
Release date: October 17th, 2017. You can download the demo today. If you’re a fan of the series, the sequels to continue to receive rave reviews. It is a separate story so for new players, it’ll be a fresh experience and you don’t need to play the older games.
Release date: November 2017. An update, hi-res version of the original DS game. You can switch between American and Japanese audio dialogue. But how will I know if I’m eating hamburgers or sushi…
Release date: October 20, 2017. The Dynasty Warriors/Musou of Fire Emblem. Fight hordes of enemies to uncover why all these characters from different time period join together to fight evil. It will also release for the Nintendo Switch
The Gaming News Corner 