The strikes in Hollywood last year reminded us of the importance of defending the interests of screenwriters, actors and, in short, all workers in the film and television industry. For 118 days they paralyzed practically the entire American film industry and we will continue to feel the consequences for years to come, due to delays in the production of films and series. Now it is the turn of the players in the video game industry to defend themselves and since July 25, SAG-AFTRA has been on strike, withdrawing all projects with actors that have been in development for less than a year until an agreement is reached that revolves around the use of AI.
However, it seems that the video game companies do not plan to drag out the strike as long as the major film and television production companies have done. Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson responded at the presentation of the Results for the first quarter of the 2025 financial year in response to a question in which he assured that the strike will not have any impact on their business in the short term and that they will move forward directly with the negotiations:
“Let me start by saying that we deeply value our talent and players, who are an important part of the work we do to deliver the incredible entertainment experiences our players around the world enjoy (…) This is not an EA-specific situation, it is an industry-specific situation, and we are working diligently to negotiate at the table.”
“We are committed to continuing to negotiate in good faith and hope that the parties can quickly resolve our issues at the negotiating table. However, we do not expect any significant short-term impact on EA.”
In addition, there are also exceptions to the strike, such as Take-Two’s Grand Theft Auto VI contract, whose development will also not be affected.
