[Update June 9, 2017: The Singer and Associates communications firm, representing nine major video game companies in the labor dispute, has reached out to clarify that "none of the Interactive Video Game Companies that have bargained together have signed a contract with SAG-AFTRA... While there have been no talks since last fall, the Video Game Companies would welcome the Union back to the table for meaningful conversations. The Companies look forward to the time when SAG-AFTRA will let its members return to the work that they love."

The companies represented in that statement include Activision Productions, Inc., Blindlight, LLC, Disney Character Voices, Inc., Electronic Arts Productions, Inc., Formosa Interactive, LLC, Insomniac Games, Inc., Take 2 Productions, Inc., VoiceWorks Productions, Inc., and, WB Games, Inc.

Any non-stuck titles from those companies referred to in the story below are from projects that predate that February, 2015 cut-off for the SAG-AFTRA strike. That leaves 47 titles from 29 other companies on the non-struck list that are operating under the new contracts being offered by the union, providing game industry work that meets SAG-AFTRA's demands.

Ars Technica regrets any misleading implications or incorrect assumptions included in the framing of the original article.]

Original story

The video game voice actors in the SAG-AFTRA union have been holding a solid line since they started striking last October , demanding limitations to vocally stressful work sessions and bonus payments for work on top-selling games. But as the strike extends into its eighth month, plenty of games are still getting made with unionized vocal talent. That's because even as the strike as a whole continues, the union has been able to peel off a growing number of developers and publishers willing to agree to new contracts that meet their demands.

Rather than bearing down for an all-or-nothing battle against a monolithic and united video game industry, SAG-AFTRA has taken a more targeted approach, signing individual agreements for specific "non-struck" titles that union members are allowed to work on. As of late May, 36 companies representing 73 games are on the list of non-struck title. While production on some of these projects predates the February, 2015 cutoff for the strike, dozens are operating under new, union approved contracts (see update above for clarification on that count).

That move has fragmented any collective bargaining position on the part of the game industry writ large, leading to the odd situation where striking workers can still find work in the sector. In some cases, individual publishers and production companies have agreed to the new contract for some projects while holding out on others, seemingly undermining their own position on a game-by-game basis. (See update above)

The piecemeal strategy has been a "huge success" according to Keythe Farley, a union spokesperson with vocal credits including Mass Effect 2 and Fallout 4, as well as many other games where he has served as a vocal director. "We decided we would put out an agreement that we felt proud of, that people would not have any problems signing on to, in order to demonstrate that our asks were reasonable," he told Ars in a recent interview. The fact that so many game projects have agreed to the union's demands, he says, is a sign that "what we were asking for from the beginning is perfectly reasonable, and folks are not having any problem signing on to contracts to work."

While there are still plenty of companies that refuse to talk with the union and plenty of game projects that are still subject to the strike, Farley says he's heartened by how many projects have already signed on. "It's already having a domino effect," he said. "It's like an avalanche.... I knew the first six months of this year were going to be the proof. If our contract had not been adopted by anybody, we'd be in a much different position."

A large part of the union's success so far, Farley says, comes from publishers realizing the specialized skills that unionized actors can bring to video games even without advance preparation. "I have a session at 11:30 this morning. I have no idea what I'm going to perform at that session," he said during our interview. "I'll show up, there'll be a script on a music stand at a microphone and a director who will hopefully help me with some context, but then it's up to me to create the character on the fly from scratch and to create a world that's believable. That's not a skill set that every actor has and certainly not a skill set that folks on the street have honed."

Muddling along

While there is now some work available for video game voice actors, the strike is still limiting the amount of vocal work available in the industry. But Farley doesn't think the mere reduction of work opportunities because of the strike is a major hardship for most union members.

"I think there has been maybe a little bit of a downturn, but just remember that these actors are also working in commercials and animation and audio books and narration and promos," he said. "Most of the actors who do video game work are also actors who work in other fields even while the video game portion of their salary might have dipped, and I can't even say that it even has."

In any case, SAG-AFTRA's piecemeal approach to individual contracts means we might not see any single dramatic moment where the strike is declared over and work continues en masse, as we did when 2007's Hollywood writer's strike ended after 100 days. Instead, we could see both sides continuing to muddle through a new normal, where some projects move forward with professional union talent while others hold out and try to make do with other vocal options.

"What I think is, it is a cultural shift," Farley said. "It's a shift away from a culture of exploitation to a culture where people are paid fairly and where their health and safety are protected... There's a contract that would end this strike this afternoon. SAG-AFTRA has committed to individually negotiate each agreement."

Listing image by SAG-AFTRA/YouTube