The newly agreed terms of the Interactive Media Agreement between SAG-AFTRA and the video game industry represent “an enormous effort on both sides and a real desire to move forward in a constructive way”, said voice actor Jennifer Hale.
Speaking to Eurogamer, Hale (known for her roles in Ratchet and Clank, Mass Effect, Metroid Prime and more) said she has “deep appreciation and respect for both sides of this equation”, and the voice acting community is “relieved to have the freedom to work again”.
Earlier this week, US actors’ union SAG-AFTRA reached a tentative agreement after almost a year on strike over the need to protect performers from AI abuse. The union then instructed its members to return to work, effectively ending the strike.
Yesterday, SAG-AFTRA approved the new agreement and provided details on its terms. The contract will now be submitted to the membership for ratification.
SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland previously stated the “necessary AI guardrails” have been put in place. We now know this includes the requirement of informed consent across AI uses, as well as compensation gains including collectively-bargained minimums for the use of “Digital Replicas”, higher minimums for “Real Time Generation” (such as a chatbot), and “Secondary Performance Payments” when visual performances are re-used in another game.
Other parts of the agreement include increases in performer compensation and overtime rates, an increase in health and retirement contributions to the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan, as well as safety provisions such as the requirement for a qualified medical professional to be present at rehearsals and performances during planned hazardous actions, and the provision of appropriate rest periods.
The full terms of the agreement will be released on 18th June once the agreement is ratified.
“I’m really happy with the gains that were made in this tentative agreement,” Hale told Eurogamer following this week’s news. “I think it represents an enormous effort on both sides and a real desire to move forward in a constructive way that takes care of both performers and the people who put the work together.
“I think the producers have also been wonderfully open about what they’ve offered as well, which I deeply appreciate. That’s one thing that’s become really clear to me through this entire process, is how much the people on the other side are our work partners, and how much we are one single community. And I hope going forward, we really dig into that.”
She added: “I am grateful that we have the ability to collectively bargain, because I do think without that, we actors would be stuck in a far more exploitative environment, which would suck.”
Hale is well-loved for her performance as the female Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect trilogy | Image credit: Bioware
Of course, AI tools and technology are evolving at a rapid rate, but Hale warned that with future-proofing “we can inadvertently back ourselves into corners that aren’t the most productive”. She added: “I think it’s important to move forward mindfully and proactively without cutting ourselves off at the knees. We got consent, control, and compensation. I think those elements are strongly in place and I think that’s really important.”
“I think everybody’s relieved,” Hale continued, discussing the reaction to the agreement from the wider acting community. “I am deeply connected to a very wide group of actors who consistently worked this contract and were very relieved to have the freedom to work again. That is extraordinary. I personally am deeply relieved that this piece of the process is done.
“I feel deeply for the rest of the community as well: for the recording studios and the casting directors and the voice directors and the agencies and everybody who was so profoundly impacted by the economic ramifications of this [strike], and the repair is going to take a long time.”
The SAG-AFTRA National Board met today to review the tentative Interactive Media Agreement and has voted to approve the contract. Members will receive referendum materials and have the opportunity to vote on whether to ratify the contract. Read more: www.sagaftra.org/sag-aftra-na…
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— SAG-AFTRA (@sagaftra.org) 13 June 2025 at 00:24
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Indeed, while the strike has now ended, it’s not as simple as just going back to work. Hale noted there are “tremendous opportunities for repair” and the industry must move forward from here.
“This has been a very long strike, and I’m really grateful for the opportunity that we get to come back and go to work again,” she said. “There have been several projects that have moved away from the SAG US market out of necessity, because timetables are timetables, and I truly hope that those creators will feel welcome in the US market again, because they very much are. We as a whole are enthusiastic to work with them again and deeply appreciative of the partnership that we have with them.”
As one example, a Genshin Impact voice actor was recast earlier this year due to the ongoing strike.
Hale described her fellow actors as “incredibly eager to work with our production partners again” and “thrilled to be free of what we’ve been going through”. She added: “It’s been wonderful to receive the support of the wider world, very much so, and I don’t take that lightly.”
When asked what she hopes both sides have learned from the process, Hale said: “That we are one community regardless of our experience level. We are all day players at the end of this, whether you’ve been doing this for 30-40 years, or you just started 30-40 days. Anytime we get hired under these contracts, for the most part, we are day players, and we are unemployed as soon as we’re done.
“We all live in the same boat. Some of us have had more time in the boat. Some of our boats have gotten built bigger because we’ve been in the water longer. But time is the only difference there. Time and grit. We are one and to that end, we are one community. We are one community making these projects together. We actors are simply part of the whole of production, and we’re really grateful to be part of that whole.”
The strike from the US union has had ramifications elsewhere, not least as producers have sought talent from other countries instead. Earlier this week, UK actor’s union Equity praised the “tenacity and persistence” of SAG-AFTRA members in reaching this new agreement, after its members stood “in solidarity” with the strike.
Back in February, the entire French cast of Apex Legends refused to sign an agreement that would allow their voices to train generative AI, risking their jobs in the process.
Eurogamer previously spoke to Hale about the SAG-AFTRA strikes, where she described AI as “an existential issue for all of us”.
