The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) is set to hold its second picket tomorrow.

The picket will take place from 9am until noon on Thursday August 15 at Disney Character Voices in Burbank, California, USA.

SAG-AFTRA will be represented by members of the Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating (IMA) Committee alongside other SAG-AFTRA members, labour allies, and video game fans."

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The Communications Workers of America (CWA) – which includes members from a range of high-profile game developers and publishers, including Activision, Bethesda, Blizzard Entertainment, Sega, and ZeniMax – says it stands in "complete solidarity with striking members of SAG-AFTRA."

The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) called a strike last week after it failed to reach an agreement with the convenience bargaining group over rights and protection concerns raised by the industry's exploration of AI technologies.

"We fully support SAG-AFTRA’s demand for explicit, enforceable language that ensures all video game workers are safeguarded against potential exploitation and displacement caused by AI technologies," the CWA said in a statement.

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SAG-AFTRA has confirmed that Grand Theft Auto 6 is exempt from the video game strike due to a previous agreement.

As reported by Kotaku, any title in development before September 2023 is exempt from the strike, as well as live-service games.

"We're obviously not happy about that," SAG-AFTRA chief contracts officer Ray Rodriguez told Aftermath. "That language was bargained into one of the legacy interactive media agreements before [the] merger [of SAG-AFTRA]. It's language that the merged union basically inherited, that I think is insane. But it's there."

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The UK's performing arts and entertainment union Equity has shared its support of SAG-AFTRA's video game strike announced yesterday.

In a statement issued on its website, assistant general secretary John Barclay said Equity "stands in total solidarity" with its sister union that has "taken the brave decision to authorise a strike against US video games companies."

"Voice and performance capture artists are a vital part of this multibillion-dollar industry, bringing life to characters that make games successful," said Barclay.

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The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has called a strike, effective at 12.01am tomorrow (July 26).

The strikes comes after the SAG-AFTRA National Board unanimously agreed earlier this week to permit its chief negotiator to call an immediate strike at will in a bid to protect voice actors fighting for job security as more and more studios explore generative AI.

National executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, acting under the authority delegated by SAG-AFTRA, says the strike comes "after more than a year and a half of negotiations [about the Interactive Media Agreement] without a deal."

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US workers body SAG-AFTRA says its voice actors strike could still impact projects that have been in development for over a year, including games like GTA 6, despite the terms of its agreement stating they should be safe.

Initially, last week's shock announcement of strike action by video game actors over AI concerns was thought to have minimal impact on games expected to release later this year, as it did not include games that commenced production before August 2023.

Now, however, SAG-AFTRA says all "members who want to show solidarity with the union can elect voluntarily not to work", intimating that it believed the strike could be more disruptive than previously suspected and impact "non-struck" games.

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US workers body SAG-AFTRA says its voice actors strike could still impact projects that have been in development for over a year, including games like GTA 6, despite the terms of its agreement stating they should be safe.

Initially, last week's shock announcement of strike action by video game actors over AI concerns was thought to have minimal impact on games expected to release later this year, as it did not include games that commenced production before August 2023.

Now, however, SAG-AFTRA says all "members who want to show solidarity with the union can elect voluntarily not to work", intimating that it believed the strike could be more disruptive than previously suspected and impact "non-struck" games.

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UK actors' union Equity stands "in solidarity" with SAG-AFTRA following news of a strike, though won't be authorising a strike itself.

Yesterday, the US actors' union announced a strike after failing to reach a deal with major video game companies over the use of AI following "more than a year and a half of negotiations".

"Equity stands in total solidarity with SAG-AFTRA who have taken the brave decision to authorise a strike against US video games companies," reads a statement from Equity assistant general secretary John Barclay.

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