Author: John Scalzo

After nearly a year of intense negotiations, the “voice actor strike” between the SAG-AFTRA union and a group of 11 game publishers (including Activision, Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive, WB Games, and others) is over.

According to a spokesman for SAG-AFTRA, the tentative agreement to end the strike includes a pay raise for voice actors, more transparency in casting calls, and a commitment to further discuss the issue of “vocal stress”:

The terms of the tentative agreement, which was reached early Saturday morning, include a new bonus structure that provides an additional payment to performers. The bonus payment, which is due no later than the release date of the game, is based on the number of sessions worked on each game, beginning with a $75 payment on the first session and totaling $2,100 after 10 sessions worked.

“The new transparency provisions will enhance the bargaining power of our members’ representatives by requiring the companies to disclose the code name of project, its genre, whether the game is based on previously published intellectual property and whether the performer is reprising a prior role,” said Ray Rodriguez, SAG-AFTRA’s Chief Contracts Officer. “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.”

The deal also contains an employer commitment to continue working with SAG-AFTRA on the issue of vocal stress during the term of the agreement.

Though the two sides have reached a tentative agreement, the strike won’t officially end until a vote of the union membership is held during their October meeting.