Over 2,500 actors working for major video game companies such as Activision, EA, Warner Bros. Games, and Blindlight have gone on strike in the United States since July 26.
The union’s top negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, has now warned News that the actors may strike for up to a year.
“There may be a theory that [the studios] can wait us out on this,” said Mr. Crabtree-Ireland, because computer games can be produced more quickly than films and so avoid delays.
“That is a mistaken theory.”
Last year, SAG-AFTRA’s actors went on strike for 118 days with Hollywood.
requesting similar AI protections from film and streaming industries, among other demands.
The strike cost the industry $5 billion (£3.9 billion), according to the University of Michigan, and caused delays in major blockbusters such as Deadpool 3, Challengers, and Dune: Part Two, but it was not SAG-AFTRA’s longest industrial action.
The union last went on strike for video game contracts in 2017. It became the longest strike in SAG-AFTRA history, spanning 340 days.
