Last week, video game voice actors voted to go on strike after a year and a half of back-and-forth negotiation with major gaming entities. The CEO of one of the companies at the bargaining table, EA, has said he’s not concerned about the strike having a short-term impact on business.
As part of EA’s most recent earnings call, EA CEO Andrew Wilson was asked about any potential impact from the strike, IGN reports. Due to the specifics of how the strike will operate, and how EA’s business runs, he’s not concerned that the strike will cause any disruption in the near future.
“We’re working very closely; this is not an EA-specific situation, this is an industry-specific situation, and we’re working diligently to negotiate at the table,” Wilson said, noting that voice actors are an important and valued part of EA’s business.
“The way it works now in terms of our product specifically is that the strike is limited to games commencing production after September 2023, including live-service games,” Wilson explained. “So we don’t expect any near-term disruption to any of the games we have in development or any of the live services we’re currently running.”
On a standard AAA development timeframe, any game that started production after the cutoff of September 2023 is likely to be a long way off from release, meaning that the strike may not have any noticeable impact on game-release schedules in the near future. Live-service games that have already been released are also exempt, meaning that titles like Fortnite or Destiny 2 can continue get new content as usual.
“That being said, we’re committed to continuing to bargain in good faith and are hopeful that the parties can expediently resolve our issues at the bargaining table,” Wilson added. “But we’re not anticipating any significant short-term impact at EA.”
Video game voice actors voted to authorize the strike last September, but only just initiated action as of July 26, after SAG-AFTRA failed to come to an agreement with video game companies. The union has said that AI is a major sticking point in negotiations, and that it wants to ensure fair protections against AI for voice actors. The game industry body also released a statement, saying it is disappointed with the union’s decision to strike.
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