What do Overwatch’s Torbjörn, Mass Effect’s Commander Shepard, and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided’s Adam Jensen have in common?
They’re all going on strike.
The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), the union that represents numerous games industry voice actors, announced that a strike of several major video game companies is now in effect.
The strike is the union’s response to failed negotiations regarding a 19-year-old contract that SAG-AFTRA believed did not reflect the modern day games industry, and as is expected, gamers and voice actors alike have taken to Twitter with the hashtag #PerformanceMatters to express their thoughts.
Here are some of the responses we’ve found:
Keith Silverstein, Overwatch (Torbjörn)
TRANSPARENCY: Employers should provide basic info: Title, Role, Nature of performance so we can make informed decisions #performancematters
— Keith Silverstein (@SilverTalkie) October 21, 2016
VOCAL STRESS: To minimize risk of strain on performers’ voices, limit vocally stressful sessions to 2 hours. #performancematters
— Keith Silverstein (@SilverTalkie) October 21, 2016
STUNT COORDINATORS: must be present when stunt work or other dangerous activity takes place. #performanceMatters
— Keith Silverstein (@SilverTalkie) October 21, 2016
CONTINGENT COMPENSATION: We deserve a simple back-end payment that would be capped and only apply to successful games. #performancematters
— Keith Silverstein (@SilverTalkie) October 21, 2016
These Tweets highlight the four main issues SAG-AFTRA fought for in its negotiations.
Jay Britton, Mafia III (additional voices)
To be clear “video game actors” aren’t on strike, we are actors pure and simple, all actors in the union are on strike #performancematters
— Jay Britton (@VoiceJayBritton) October 21, 2016
SAG-AFTRA represents approximately 160,000 actors across various fields, such as actors, broadcast journalists, stunt performers, and puppeteers.
Erika Harlacher, Killer Instinct (Sadira)
#performancematters https://t.co/d4vwpDL4Ce
— Erika Harlacher (@ErikaHarlacher) October 21, 2016
Non-Union actors please stand with us. Don’t be a scab ? I know this sucks but it’s to create a better future for us all #performancematters
— Erika Harlacher (@ErikaHarlacher) October 21, 2016
Jennifer Hale, Mass Effect 3 (Commander Shepard)
don’t let the strike worry you, there’s amazing stuff coming, we’ll keep you posted as soon as we can.
love you guys #performancematters
— Jennifer Hale (@jhaletweets) October 21, 2016
Steve Blum, Orochimaru (Naruto: Shippuden)
Very sad that it’s come to this. They refused to negotiate. We have no choice. I stand in solidarity with @sagaftra #performancematters
— Steve Blum (@blumspew) October 21, 2016
For the record, I love and respect every VG Dev, Producer and Artist I’ve worked with. This is about wellbeing for the entire industry.
— Steve Blum (@blumspew) October 21, 2016
Elias Toufexis, Adam Jensen (Deus Ex: Mankind Divided)
Yes. Performance matters. https://t.co/qSg4yNLy4E
— Elias Toufexis (@EliasToufexis) October 22, 2016
Tara Strong, Harley Quinn (Batman: Arkham Knight)
#performancematters Final straw 4 me was one of the negotiators looked in my eyes & said, “No one really cares about the voices”
— tara strong (@tarastrong) October 21, 2016
Kimlinh Tran, Fidget (Dust: An ELysian Tail)
;P If you ONLY got the job because all the good folks are gone, that doesn’t necessarily say that YOU’RE good as a talent, does it? /strike
— Kimlinh Tran (@KimlinhTran) October 22, 2016
People who’ve never VA’d before offering their “services” because of the strike? Be our guest. Prove our point that #performancematters
— Kimlinh Tran (@KimlinhTran) October 22, 2016
Have fun being flamed for crappy voice acting!
— Kimlinh Tran (@KimlinhTran) October 22, 2016
Khris Brown, Voice Over Director
Hey, people poop-talking actors. I’m the longest-running-career VO director in games (yeah. hi.). I am nothing without them. #respect
— Khris Brown (@kbavoice) October 21, 2016
I’ve given my life to this industry & love it more than anything. Trying to bridge the gap. My strike thoughts: https://t.co/Pm4IngU90Q
— Khris Brown (@kbavoice) October 21, 2016
There are no enemies. The dev teams are (sometimes literally) killing themselves. There is a way forward, with compassion & understanding.
— Khris Brown (@kbavoice) October 21, 2016
The strike will begin in earnest on Monday, Oct. 24 at 10:30 a.m. when voice actors take to the picket line in front of EA’s Playa Vista, CA office.
We’ll update the story as it develops…
Hunter Wolfe just graduated with his B.A. in Communication/Journalism from Shippensburg University and has nearly four years of professional writing experience. His content has been featured on sites like Rolling Stone's Glixel, Destructoid and The Artifice. You can check out his full portfolio at: www.hunterawolfe.com.