SAG-AFTRA voice actors for Take-Two (Fireaxis parent) going on strike on July 26th

[SemiLazyGamer]

Video game performers will go on strike over artificial intelligence concerns

Hollywood’s video game performers are going on strike, throwing part of the entertainment industry into another work stoppage after talks for a new contract with major game studios broke down over artificial intelligence protections.

apnews.com

 

[The_J]

It doesn't specifically say "Take-Two" anywhere, no?
I mean there's quite some likelhood that they are organized.
I wouldn't think that it has a big impact though. There might be some delay, but the release date is anyways not announced.

 

[pokiehl]

Aside from what The_J said, I think there’s a good chance the voice work for the base game is already done anyway.

 

[Nikolai II]

Aside from what The_J said, I think there’s a good chance the voice work for the base game is already done anyway.

Possible, indeed. Not necessarily so though. But we will never know for sure, will we.

 

[InsidiousMage]

But we will never know for sure, will we.

I mean, we might if the strike goes on long enough and the voice work isn't actually finished, which would probably delay the game

That said, I'm curious how much of the voice work in Civ is actually covered by union contracts since they probably use a lot of international voice actors.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Possible, indeed. Not necessarily so though. But we will never know for sure, will we.

Not for another month

 

[Kwami]

I mean, we might if the strike goes on long enough and the voice work isn't actually finished, which would probably delay the game

That said, I'm curious how much of the voice work in Civ is actually covered by union contracts since they probably use a lot of international voice actors.

When non-actor celebrities make appearances on TV shows, they usually have to at least temporarily join the actor's guild first. I wouldn't be surprised if foreign voice actors had to temporarily join the union, too, unless Firaxis has them record everything outside the US.

But I bet that most of the actors aren't foreign, anyway.

 

[pokiehl]

When non-actor celebrities make appearances on TV shows, they usually have to at least temporarily join the actor's guild first.

Is that true? I've never heard of it and googling "temporarily join SAG AFTRA" returns no relevant results. It doesn't sound correct at first blush, since joining SAG AFTRA costs $3000.

If there were a voice acting union strike, then they'd probably just use non-union voice actors or have union voice actors perform but not get credited under their real names (like David Hayter being credited in MGS1 as "Sean Barker").

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

When non-actor celebrities make appearances on TV shows, they usually have to at least temporarily join the actor's guild first. I wouldn't be surprised if foreign voice actors had to temporarily join the union, too, unless Firaxis has them record everything outside the US.

But I bet that most of the actors aren't foreign, anyway.

Whenever they use a foreign voice actor, I guarantee they just have them pop into a local recording studio and send them the audio files instead of flying them to the US to record a few lines.

 

[ldvhl]

Always solidarity with my fellow workers. If Firaxis chooses to break the picket line and hire scabs, then they will not get my money.

 

[InsidiousMage]

unless Firaxis has them record everything outside the US.

Whenever they use a foreign voice actor, I guarantee they just have them pop into a local recording studio and send them the audio files instead of flying them to the US to record a few lines.

The reason I brought it up is because I saw a short feature on YouTube about the recording Seondeok's line and they were done in Korea by a Korean actress.

But I bet that most of the actors aren't foreign, anyway.

I wouldn't take that bet. Some of the voice actors are definitely from the US but would image a lot are foreign actors because finding a quality actor who can speak the language you need isn't guaranteed. Like, plenty of people speak Latin in the US but Caesar's voice actor is still Italian. If they can't find a solid voice actor who can do passable Latin, I'm guessing they are going to have trouble filling out the rest of the roster with US talent.

 

[Kwami]

Is that true? I've never heard of it and googling "temporarily join SAG AFTRA" returns no relevant results. It doesn't sound correct at first blush, since joining SAG AFTRA costs $3000.

If there were a voice acting union strike, then they'd probably just use non-union voice actors or have union voice actors perform but not get credited under their real names (like David Hayter being credited in MGS1 as "Sean Barker").

I remember it happened with a celebrity who had a cameo on The Big Bang Theory. I'm trying to remember who it was...

 

[AffineConstant]

Considering the odd requirements Civ uses now (I'm assuming everyone still speaks in their own languages) I'm not sure how many voice actors would be union. But likely the narrator and plausibly english voice actors would be.
Hopefully the whole thing gets sorted faster than the 9+ months the game likely has to come out.

 

[Leyrann]

Always solidarity with my fellow workers. If Firaxis chooses to break the picket line and hire scabs, then they will not get my money.

It's kind of disingenuous to expect a company to tank their own finances if they don't have to. They're not a charity.

 

[AffineConstant]

It's kind of disingenuous to expect a company to tank their own finances if they don't have to. They're not a charity.

There's also no guarantee they were ever going to hire from this specific union in the first place. SAG-AFTRA is not some universal union of actors that all must adhere to. The "American" in "SAG-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists" is a clue.

 

[Patine]

It's kind of disingenuous to expect a company to tank their own finances if they don't have to. They're not a charity.

But they also shouldn't be like, say, Nike with outsourced sweatshops, or Wal-Mart and McDonald's, who mass fire and replace all employees who attempt to unionize, in terms of employment ethics, either, should they?

 

[SemiLazyGamer]

I just took a look at the strikes page and VII is being blacklisted by the strike. You will have to search for it yourself.

Interactive Media (Video Game) Strike | SAG-AFTRA

www.sagaftra.org

 

[Leyrann]

But they also shouldn't be like, say, Nike with outsourced sweatshops, or Wal-Mart and McDonald's, who mass fire and replace all employees who attempt to unionize, in terms of employment ethics, either, should they?

Indeed. And there's a middle ground between the two.

I don't consider "refusing to hire anyone and tanking your own business because some people in the industry you are hiring from are on strike" to be part of that middle ground.

If you do want to make a statement on the topic, the sensible way to do so would be to treat the people you're hiring fairly. I'm not sure wth that's actually supposed to mean when they're on strike because they're worried about AI-generated content taking their jobs (???), so as far as I'm concerned I'd say, ignore it entirely, but when it comes to, e.g., strikes for higher wages, just offer higher wages as your statement.

(and as a side note: Firaxis are part of 2K, and may thus not be entirely free to hire or not hire people, or decide what to offer or not offer those people - if they're restricted by 2K, it's 2K you should be mad at, not Firaxis)

 

[pokiehl]

I just took a look at the strikes page and VII is being blacklisted by the strike. You will have to search for it yourself.

Interactive Media (Video Game) Strike | SAG-AFTRA

www.sagaftra.org

Not sure how accurate this is when searching by game name. I went on the search and typed in "asjkhdasuyidasiuda" and it said that game was part of the strike. Looks like you can type basically anything and it'll say it's included.

It specifically asks for "code name" and "Production ID". We have no idea what either of those are for Civ 7 (or any other game). They even say that searching by name should be verified with emailing them.

 

[SemiLazyGamer]

Not sure how accurate this is when searching by game name. I went on the search and typed in "asjkhdasuyidasiuda" and it said that game was part of the strike. Looks like you can type basically anything and it'll say it's included.

It specifically asks for "code name" and "Production ID". We have no idea what either of those are for Civ 7 (or any other game). They even say that searching by name should be verified with emailing them.

Yeah, I'm very likely wrong with this. I just was reading a rumor that fellow Take-Two game GTAVI is also not affected and that's because it started development before September 2023.

I would highly assume VII also started development before then, but I suspect the expansions might end up being screwed over if this goes on for too long.