The 2024–2025 SAG-AFTRA video game strike was a work stoppage started by Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) on July 26, 2024. The union’s voice actors and motion capture artists protested American video game companies that had signed agreements with SAG-AFTRA. The strike happened because the companies and the union could not agree on new terms for a contract that had ended in November 2022. The strike was approved in September 2023. Negotiations lasted for 18 months but failed to create an agreement to protect performers from the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Concerns also included companies using AI to copy an actor’s voice or create a digital image of their appearance without permission or fair pay.
The strike also involved a separate protest against Hoyoverse games. Striking voice actors asked for an agreement between Hoyoverse and SAG-AFTRA. This led to the replacement of many striking actors.
On June 9, 2025, SAG-AFTRA announced a possible agreement was reached. The strike paused on June 11. The agreement was approved by most members on July 9, 2025, ending the strike.
Background
In the early 2020s, as generative AI became more advanced, game developers began exploring ways to use AI instead of human performers to lower costs. From 2023 onward, many video game companies laid off workers, leading to worries about whether game development can continue in the future. This caused some game projects to be canceled and some studios to close. AI has been considered a way to reduce costs, such as the expenses for hiring voice-over actors and motion capture performers. Unionized voice actors may earn between $450 and $2000 per day. While AI could save money on these costs, it has also raised concerns among video game actors, including fears about their voices or appearances being copied without permission, losing job opportunities, and not receiving fair pay.
In November 2022, the Interactive Media Agreement ended and was later renewed each month. On September 1, 2023, the SAG-AFTRA National Board decided to ask its members to vote on authorizing a strike in the video game industry. On September 25, the vote passed with 98.32% of members supporting the strike. Negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and major video game companies, including Activision, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, and others, did not result in an agreement.
In January 2024, SAG-AFTRA reached an agreement with Replica Studios to create voice model replicas for video games. The agreement required permission for new projects, secure storage of voice models, limits on how long the models could be used without additional payment, and clear rules about how the models would be used.
Strike
On July 25, 2024, SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland announced that SAG-AFTRA would strike against major video game publishers. Crabtree-Ireland stated the strike would begin on July 26, 2024, explaining that the video game companies’ arguments were intended to mislead the public. These arguments, he said, aimed to hide efforts to collect actors’ performances without their permission or fair pay, especially for actors without strong bargaining power. About 2,600 workers in the video game industry, including voice actors and motion capture performers, would join the strike.
On September 24, 2024, SAG-AFTRA called for a strike against League of Legends after accusing Formosa Interactive, a company that provides audio work for the game, of trying to avoid the strike. SAG-AFTRA claimed Formosa Interactive secretly moved an unrelated project to a shell company and posted casting notices for non-union performers. SAG-AFTRA’s interactive negotiating committee voted unanimously to file an unfair labor practice charge against Formosa Interactive with the National Labor Relations Board. Part of this charge included a strike against League of Legends. Formosa Interactive denied the allegations, stating it had not violated union rights. Riot Games, the developer of League of Legends, said it only required Formosa Interactive to hire union performers and clarified that it had not asked Formosa to cancel any games.
On May 19, 2025, SAG-AFTRA filed an unfair labor practice charge against Llama Productions, a subsidiary of Epic Games. The union accused the company of replacing actors’ work with artificial intelligence to create Darth Vader’s voice in Fortnite without notice.
On October 15, 2024, SAG-AFTRA officials and video game company representatives announced plans to hold in-person negotiations again for the first time since November 2023, starting on October 23, 2024.
On October 28, 2024, SAG-AFTRA announced a partnership with AI company Ethovox to create voice model replicas. The deal included payment for union members during sessions and revenue sharing. The union also stated the strike would continue despite recent negotiations with video game companies.
On November 14, 2024, SAG-AFTRA introduced a new agreement for video game localization called the Independent Interactive Localization Agreement. This agreement allows non-U.S. game developers to hire union voice actors for localization work under specific terms.
On March 11, 2025, SAG-AFTRA said it had reached agreements with video game publishers about pay and performance protections but remained far apart on issues related to AI replacing actors.
On May 13, 2025, a final offer was made to SAG-AFTRA. The proposal removed language allowing unlimited digital replica buyouts and instead required companies to pay performers for digital replicas at rates similar to direct work. It also limited companies from creating replicas from works not covered by the interactive media agreement.
On June 9, 2025, SAG-AFTRA announced a tentative agreement with video game companies, with a vote on the deal expected soon. The agreement included protections for performers in the AI era and other benefits, according to Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. The strike was suspended on June 11, 2025, pending approval from the union’s board and members. The board approved the deal on June 12. Voting by SAG-AFTRA members began on June 18 and ended on July 9. The agreement was overwhelmingly approved, with 95.04% of members voting in favor.
Impact
On September 4, 2024, Lightspeed LA, a part of Tencent's Lightspeed Studios, signed a temporary agreement with the union to continue working with actors. The next day, SAG-AFTRA announced that 80 video games had signed agreements with the union, allowing actors to return to work on those games and increasing pressure on larger game companies.
On September 17, 2024, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed two laws: AB 1836, which protects against using AI with the voices or likenesses of deceased performers and gives rights to their families, and AB 2602, which prevents using AI with the voices or likenesses of living performers without clear permission. These laws cover voice-over work and video game performances, such as motion capture. The laws were signed at SAG-AFTRA’s headquarters with support from union leaders. Protection for motion capture work is especially important because SAG-AFTRA leaders have said that motion capture professionals are performers, and this issue was a major reason for the strike and a key point of disagreement with game companies.
When the SAG-AFTRA strike began, voice actors working on games from HoYoverse (a brand of miHoYo) started their own labor action, asking for the same demands as the union but also requesting a contract between HoYoverse and SAG-AFTRA. miHoYo was not listed as a company affected by the strike, but SAG-AFTRA asked HoYoverse to sign a contract.
Starting in March 2025, HoYoverse announced that several voice actors in their games, including Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, and Zenless Zone Zero, were replaced. Many original voice actors said the strike was why they stopped working. These actors included Nicholas Thurkettle (Von Lycaon), Emeri Chase (Soldier 11), and John Patneaude (Kinich). Patneaude’s replacement, Jacob Takanashi, faced criticism from other voice actors after announcing his new role. PC Gamer called him a “scab,” but some players defended him, saying the voice actors were unprofessional. Nathan Nokes, who voices Ororon in Genshin Impact, asked others to be respectful even when disagreeing.
In May 2025, after SAG-AFTRA did not respond to its final offer, some voice actors, including Allegra Clark (Beidou) and Chris Tergliafera (Naganohara Ryuunosuke), asked the union to end the strike, saying major game companies were leaving the U.S. to find other voice actors. Others, like Corina Boettger (Paimon) and Kayli Mills (Keqing), continued supporting the strike, saying they would not return to work until HoYoverse signed an agreement.
Aftermath
In July 2025, SAG-AFTRA and the American video game industry reached a new agreement. Under this agreement, SAG-AFTRA members would receive annual wage increases for three years. They would also earn higher pay for work on union games. The agreement includes rules to stop American game companies from using AI to replace performers' work. These rules require companies to get permission before using AI to create digital copies of performers. Performers could also pause their permission to stop AI from creating new material during a strike.
After the strike ended, most voice actors who were not credited for their roles during the strike were added to the credits. While the new agreement was considered a success for union members, some voice actors criticized SAG-AFTRA for being accused of making negotiations take longer. This made it harder for performers to find work and encouraged video game companies to hire non-U.S. voice actors instead.
Jennifer Hale said the voice actor community was happy to resume work and noted the strike had serious economic effects on the group. Sean Chiplock mentioned that even though the main strike ended, some HoYoverse voice actors, including himself, continued their strike as part of an "independent collective work refusal." Because of this, HoYoverse replaced several voice actors even after the main strike ended.