In late June, the union rolled out a fourth tier of its new video game contract, the Tiered-Budget Independent Interactive Media Agreement. The agreement was initially unveiled with three tiers in February, allowing independent video game developers and projects with smaller budgets to access union talent for projects in the $250,000 to $15 million range. The new tier provides coverage for projects in the $15 million to $30 million budget range. The agreement furthers SAG-AFTRA’s goal of expanding coverage for video games while incorporating many of the sought-after provisions essential for the safety and sustainability of performers’ careers, and the contracts include robust A.I. protections that cover voice and movement performance for all four tiers.
The four budget tiers are:
• $250,000 to $1 million.
• $1 million to $5 million.
• $5 million to $15 million.
• $15 million to $30 million.
In addition, the contracts simplify and streamline the base language of the full Interactive Media Agreement; capture project success with secondary payments, which can be prepaid at a reduced rate; and require informed consent and compensation for the use of digital replicas of a performer. During the strike, work will continue on projects that sign one of these agreements. The full text of the agreement, FAQs, and a Producers Guide are available for review in our digital Production Center.
This item originally featured in the SAG-AFTRA summer 2024 magazine issue.