Looks like its a go:

http://www.engadget.com/2015/10/08/video-game-voice-actors-strike-vote/

I have to say I am against this:

I am against because this demand for royalties will only make the voice acting budget increase even more in both AAA and Indie games.

Not only that the AAA scene might complete avoid this issue by just not having voice acting in their games at all. (That or hire really cheap and work for less "actors")

And besides video games do not have that much of staying power as movies I mean for example does Mark Hamill still get Royalties for his role in the Wing Commander games in the sameway he does for Star Wars?

Think about the time where there was no GOG and the mainstream audiance does not know or even forgotten about Wing Commander.

I think those voice actors are over estimating their pull in the industry. Voice acting may be a grind, but there's always people with silky voices and faces made for radio. The strike is also coming during a real dilution when it comes to game publishing and development. Replacements will be found... and for cheaper cost.

In today's competitive market, you have to work with it to make it work for you. It doesn't really pay off to try to bring an entire industry to its knees so you can get a larger share of the pie. Different cooks will just be hired to cook an entirely new pie.

In other words, I don't like their odds.

Well I think one word describes this situation... ego.

Exactly they are going about this very idealistically that they do not see the reality and try to take the more rational way. Especially this lady of my childhood cartoons:

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/people/tara-strong

Ah.. hopefully this will mean avatars go back using textballoons, the good ole days. :^D

People like Doug Cockle maybe able to haggle for more dough...

I'm all for people doing hard work being compensated fairly. And with the current millions of budget for AAA titles I guess the voice acting is only a tiny fraction of the costs. On the other hand - if you're not "the voice" of an important recurring character and you're not exceptionally talented it's probably hard to ask more money, when there's line of other people waiting outside who would gladly do your work...

Seriously, this is about royalties? I thought this was about regular wage rates.
Why in the fucking world should they be the only ones who get royalties for their work on video games? What about the graphic artists, the 3D modelers or the god damn programmers? I'm pretty sure that a job in either one of those three groups is more stressful (especially with the pressure in the AAA industry) and more valuable to the development of a game than fucking voice acting.
Not that I don't appreciate or respect the work voice actors do, but this smells like pure greed and an overinflated sense of self-importance to me. I doubt that he gets royalties for either one of those. His job was to act in them, and he got payed for it. Unless there's something special in an actor's contract, that's usually the end of it.

The first question that comes to mind is why artists, composers, programmers, and writers aren't asking for the same, despite being subject to much, much harsher working conditions (sometimes even health-threatening) than voice actors.

Unique snowflakes much? :| Like what? Them not getting rich because they've got paid exactly what they signed up for?

Well then I retract my statement and now I am just against this strike because they are going to make this issue even worse then it already is.

This will probably hurt them in the long run as there are a lot of non-union people trying to make a name for themselves in the VA industry who are actually pretty talented and this could be the window they need to get in.


Remember when television and movie writers when on strike a while back, they ended up signing an agreement that was significantly less then what they originally demanded.

I don't think so. Voice Acting is a big part in gaming nowadays and there are a lot of recognizable voices and it would be a shame to lose those.
Also consider the outcry from Simpsons Fans whenever the Voice Actors dared with a strike or to leave the show because they wanted more money. Now imagine something like that in a game series, like Mass Effect or Saints Row where you have the same set of characters, imagine now that the main character voices change from one game to another. People would be outraged too.

And with games selling in the millions nowadays, i think the VA's deserve a lot more attention and a lot more money for their work. Like Michael Hollick who voiced Nico Bellic only getting 100.000$ for a game that made 500 million dollars in the first week alone and sold way over 30 million units. I can understand why he's annoyed to only get this measly amount of money for his extensive work.

Because they don't have a union ;) I am all for artists, composers and programmers to start unions and negotiate such deals. But if other programmers are like me, they don't like unions and that is why we have none :D I didn't even join the union in the company I work for.

First of all, the strike is not a "go", this was just a procedural vote by the union to allow the threat of a strike to be used in the negotiating process. If the negotiations fall apart, then the strike is on. Secondly, this is not just about royalties, this is also about some very basic protections, like having stunt coordinators for motion capture sessions and regular rest breaks in recording sessions. You know, the kind of thing labor protection laws should already cover, but apparently don't when it comes to game development. On the subject of royalties, other entities involved in game development, like the programmers and graphic artists, do technically get royalties already. The development studios they work for are paid bonuses for sales. Whether that studio then pays those bonuses to their employees is between the studio and the employees. This is a different situation, where voice actors are independent contractors, not directly employed by the studios or publishers, so even if a bonus is paid out to a studio, the actors get none of it. The royalties they are asking for are really miniscule and unlike other artistic royalties which can pay out for an artist's entire life, these have a cap (and a minimum that must be met to trigger a royalty payout). Basically, the video game industry has never followed the kind of business standards the movie/TV industry has been following for decades when it comes to compensating and protecting actors, now the union is trying to force them to adopt those standards, modified for the unique scenarios of the gaming industry.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2015/09/24/video-game-voice-actors-may-go-on-strike-and-thats-a-good-thing/

The link in the OP makes their demands sound kind of ridiculous, but the more detailed breakdown makes quite a bit of sense. The royalties aren't even technically royalties in the sense that most people think of them, instead being more like one-time bonuses that are only paid out when the game sales reach certain milestones.

Don't worry.

The guy who did the voice of Mario in 'Punch Out!' has said he is more than willing to cross the picket line.