SAG-AFTRA Now Allows Talents to Work With Game Jams and Student Devs Amid Strike
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- SAG-AFTRA now allows their talents to work with Game Jam developers and students.
- There are some requirements that the developers need to adhere to before working with them.
- The SAG-AFTRA strike has been going on for about eight months as of writing.
In a statement published on March 28, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) makes an exception for game jams and student developers. This means that the actors who are members of the union are now allowed to work with them.
“With these new agreements, SAG-AFTRA can help support game developers at all levels who want to work with union talent and who want to learn more about producing video games under a union contract,” Duncan Crabree-Ireland said. He is the National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator of the union.
While this is good for students who are enrolled in video game courses, there are still some requirements that they need to meet:
- The project must meet the definition of an Interactive Media Project as defined in the 2025 Independent Interactive Media Agreement.
- The Student must be either at the undergraduate or graduate level.
- The project must be owned by the Student (Producer).
They also need to sign a waiver to register their project.
Developers who are into Game Jams have to do the same. They also have to sign a waiver, and the game being made “may not include material recorded before the commencement of the event.”
SAG-AFTRA has been on strike for about eight months now. The reason is that the union wants protection from AI abuse.
On March 27, John Patneaude, the voice of Kinich in Genshin Impact, was recast upon refusing to provide services during the strike. Destiny 2’s latest expansion has also suffered from the lack of voiced lines for the same reason.
