SAG-AFTRA urges extra non-struck game studios to label intervening time settlement

A fairly current back-and-forth involving Hades II developer Supergiant Games’ actor Marin M. Miller highlighted a growing dilemma creators face as SAG-AFTRA’s walkout regarding video games governed by the Interactive Media Agreement approaches its second year. What, precisely, do studios that are not covered by the agreement owe the performers they collaborate with?

Although the union’s sticking point in discussions with the coalition that includes Electronic Arts, Activision, and Take-Two Interactive hinges on disagreements surrounding generative AI, Miller and Supergiant’s struggle arises from a broader issue: actors asserting that now more than ever, they require contract terms to be backed by unions that have the capacity to enforce them if issues escalate.

This is one of the primary messages that SAG-AFTRA Interactive Negotiating Committee chair Sarah Elmaleh and national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland hope developers are beginning to recognize. As the strike continues, the number of video games being produced under the “side letter six” (the clause in the Agreement specifying that games that began development before the strike are not officially affected) is decreasing. This means publishers are considering casting needs for their upcoming titles—and actors, anticipating a resolution with the union—are seeking opportunities with studios that had not previously entered into any agreement.

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On the ground level, it’s reasonable for a studio to question why they should require a union contract. If they previously enjoyed a fair relationship with an actor and provided favorable terms, wouldn’t that suffice?

The answer, as articulated by Crabtree-Ireland and Elmaleh in an interview with Game Developer during the 2025 Game Developers Conference, is “No.”

Why is the SAG-AFTRA strike still ongoing?

Studios hoping for a swift resolution to the strike may need to wait a bit longer. According to Crabtree-Ireland, the nine companies that form the video game industry’s negotiating group are not aligned on “the fundamental principles that underlie the AI protections we’re advocating for,” he explained. “So far, that hasn’t been our experience with other bargaining groups.”

For a reminder, Crabtree-Ireland fought this battle in 2023 during the SAG-AFTRA theatrical and television strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. “It took some time to reach an agreement, but we made faster progress towards that ultimate goal: informed consent, improved pay, and guidelines around the use of generative AI.”

Related:Supergiant denies recasting Hades II actor over temporary SAG-AFTRA contract request

To contextualize his remarks, with over 180 companies having signed the interim agreement, any members of the negotiating group that choose to comply with SAG-AFTRA’s terms are essentially being barred from utilizing union talent for upcoming games. This means that for the time being, smaller studios gain a competitive advantage over major industry players.

This brings us back to the ongoing efforts of actors to secure interim agreements with their studio partners. As evidenced by Marin’s comments concerning Supergiant Games, a growing number of actors prefer “the very specific protections and power of a union contract,” Elmaleh stated. “[The threat of AI] is new. It’s unprecedented, it’s more serious than perhaps any other threat we’ve encountered as a community, and that’s genuinely motivating people to comprehend that the contract is vital for numerous reasons, not just because of AI protections, but also because of the capability for a union to enforce those and… other provisions in the contract” (Supergiant Games opted not to provide a comment after we reached out prior to this piece).

If an actor finds themselves in a conflict with a developer (or third-party recording studio) regarding an individual contract, they must pay for their own lawyer to take it to court. However, if they are involved in a dispute concerning a union contract, their union dues cover legal protection, along with other benefits such as health insurance, both of which carry over from job to job.

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Elmaleh mentioned that if one of your actors is requesting you to sign the contract—to “go union”—what they are expressing is “this contract is significant to me and these are my terms that I need to protect my career…I would appreciate your cooperation because this is essential for my self-preservation.” She emphasized that good relationships between developers and SAG-AFTRA (as opposed to recording companies like the currently-struck Formosa Interactive) allow the union to be “flexible” with the specific terms of the agreement.

The realities of recasting

To the best of Game Developer’s knowledge, none of the games affected by SAG-AFTRA have been cast with non-union talent. However, games that aren’t affected present a different situation. Actors in games like Call of Accountability: Murky Ops 6 Zenless Zone Zero are among those that have been altered—some of them indicating they were replaced after requesting their employers to designate a temporary settlement in exchange for their continued work.

However, as Canadian actor Humberly González reminded us last year, the United States is not solely the prime market for voice actors, and some video games may potentially use performers from various regions represented by different unions to assemble the best possible cast. If the strike persists, could we see studios relocating to another country to fill production shortages—especially if they are seeking talent more willing to relinquish their voices for generative AI purposes?

This question has been on the minds of several voice actors Sport Developer has engaged with over the past months, with some referencing a statement made by French voice actor Pascale Chemin, who claimed her fellow cast members on an unspecified game were asked to sign a contract permitting their voices to be used for generative AI by an unnamed developer. (Pascale did not specify which developer or dubbing studio offered the contract, though she tagged her fellow actors in her Instagram post—all of them are the French-language voices for Apex Legends. The tagged actors provide a significant hint regarding which game she was referring to).

Chemin and her colleagues maintained their position against an unidentified developer—yet will every actor follow suit? In every territory?

“AI is a critical subject of negotiation, and that means you must not be bypassing or trying to evade this procedure,” Elmaleh stated when questioned about the possibility of currently-affected companies seeking overseas substitutes. Crabtree-Ireland concurred, stating it could be “unethical” for a company to go to such lengths to impose unjust AI conditions on performers.

“You should expect to face backlash not only from performers but also from fans as well.”

He did express that “there is no necessity” for any studio under the affected Interactive Media Agreement to take such actions. “Over 175 games and more than 50 percent of production revenue are protected under our interim or tiered independent agreements. It’s entirely feasible to develop your game responsibly and under union contracts with adequate AI safeguards.”

And as Chemin illustrated, actors in different regions are ready to demonstrate solidarity if necessary. As Crabtree-Ireland articulated, “Most of the unions in other potential video game production areas have declared that they will resist productions relocating to their jurisdictions to circumvent the strike, not just out of solidarity but also because they do not wish to work under exploitable conditions either.”

Worker protections extend beyond fair terms

Game development is a challenging industry, and even salaried developers recognize that their roles do not represent the epitome of security. However, due to the nature of the profession, actors find themselves in an even more vulnerable position. Actors like Elmaleh transition from project to project as freelancers, managing the difficulties that accompany that lifestyle.

“It is a chaotic puzzle,” she remarked while describing her connection to the craft. When in the studio, she must be prepared to deliver a consistent performance that enables a developer to seamlessly blend recordings from different days, a task that can be “potentially very demanding and adaptive.”

In a post-GDC discussion with Pores and skin Deep developer Blendo Games, writer and narrative designer Laura Michet provided practical reasons for why the low-budget indie team opted to cast talent under the temporary agreement through a third-party signatory. Blendo has not previously utilized voice acting in its past games, and “I’ve collaborated with the union before on some of my other projects.”