Video Game Voice Actors Unfair Compensation and SAG Strike

If you were unaware over the last few months there has been a large backlash against certain game companies and how they actually compensate the voice actors who work in their games. This has lead to some going on strike in the Screen Actors Guild, specifically aimed at about a dozen game companies to compensate voice actors, especially main ones fairly. If you go into the process about how they end up recruiting and getting the actors to work, it really shows that the practices are a bit unfair in my opinion. If similar techniques were being used in Hollywood, there would be outrage.

First lets realize that unlike the past, video games are not a secondary form of entertainment. With games such as Grand Theft Auto 5 selling 65 million copies and having much more people who don’t own the game, watch the game during streams. It can easily be said that many times they are making more than enough to compensate their people equally. Especially voice actors who sometimes can be the difference between you falling in love with or hating a certain character. In games like GTA 5 the voice acting is fantastic and people have fallen in love with the actors and the characters they portray.

Voice actors are often seen as second class citizens in the acting world, but in reality their job is just as hard. They have to match the feeling, the actions and become the character they portray, just as much as a regular Hollywood actor. Many times Hollywood actors will do voice acting as well and they don’t make any less for it, they earn their quote and this is important. Voice actors have a quote but it is much lower than most Hollywood actors who would have similar roles, but ultimately the rate is negotiable.

It would be like saying if you were in an indie movie you might earn 80% less than if you were in a summer blockbuster film and actors know this, which is why they have the ability to negotiate salary. Unfortunately in the game industry they have a shady practice of hiring people, not even letting them know which game they are going to be in, or the importance of the character, paying them a flat rate and sending them on their way. They will often get called up multiple times to come back, but negotiation is very limited. This is shady because it gives the corporation all the power when paying their hires. Someone could be a main character in a popular game franchise that is going to ship out to tens of millions of people and get severely underpaid.

Game studios claim that the reason they don’t release any information is because they don’t want the actors to leak the game in development, but in my opinion this is just an excuse, have them sign an NDA. What voice actors were asking for in the strike is simply that the more successful the game does, the higher percentage they should be paid, which in my opinion is completely reasonable. I think the number they threw out was every additional 5 million copies sold, they pay for an extra work day salary.

The reason this deal is completely reasonable in my opinion is because it is based solely on how well the game does rather than just paying a high flat rate. In Hollywood you will see actors paid 10 million for a movie that ends up flopping, but here you have actors who want a fair wage. I agree they should be compensated more if 100 million people listen to their work. I think that game studios will probably agree over time, but the price will probably have to be negotiated before the fight ends.

Thanks to @Elyaque for the badges