Image: Rockstar Games
GTA 6 is exempt from the ongoing videogame actors’ strike, thanks to ‘insane’ contract terms.
It looks like the ongoing videogame acting strike won’t affect as many games as expected.
New contract terms have surfaced for the SAG-AFTRA union’s acting strike, confirming that all videogames that have been in development for more than a year won’t be affected by the strike. According to Kotaku, that includes Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto 6 and most if not all live service games, such as Genshin Impact.
GTA 6 and live service games won’t be affected by acting strike… for now
Last week, acting union SAG-AFTRA announced that it was officially going on strike against game companies like Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts and Warner Bros. Games. The strike was approved after more than a year and a half of negotiations to renew an Interactive Media Agreement with 10 game companies fell through due to disagreements over the use of AI in game development.
This strike will only affect members of the SAG-AFTRA union who act in videogames, but according to newly-revealed terms, some of them may be exempt from the strike too. According to SAG-AFTRA's contract terms, members of the union can still work on videogames that have been in development for more than a year despite the ongoing strike.
That includes publisher Take-Two Interactive’s GTA 6, which will seemingly continue development without being affected by the strike.
SAG-AFTRA explained in a FAQ that, “some companies have games that cannot be struck due to certain contract terms.”
In an interview with Aftermath, the union’s chief contracts officer Ray Rodriguez acknowledged GTA 6’s exemption by saying, “We're obviously not happy about that. That language was bargained into one of the legacy Interactive Media Agreements before merger [of SAG and AFTRA]. It's language that the merged union basically inherited, that I think is insane. But it’s there.”
However, Rodriguez also noted that “there are certain titles that we can challenge” and that the union is “doing our best to wage the strike as effectively [and] as strongly as we can – even in spite of that language being there." This suggests that games that are currently exempt from the strike are not guaranteed to stay that way forever.
Live service games are also exempt from the strike, but the Aftermath interview suggests that this could change if the strike lasts for 60 days or more. Rodriguez explained that live service games essentially operate under “contracts of unlimited duration, and there is a law that a contract of unlimited duration can be terminated on reasonable notice” and the union has provided that notice to live service games. Once those 60 days are up, things can change.
SAG-AFTRA’s strike FAQ also confirms that videogame localisation is “struck work” putting games developed from outside America on notice as well.
