Representatives for the video game industry have now released a statement in the wake of the strike that began at 12:01 AM PT this morning.
"The Video Game Companies did everything in their power to reach agreement with union leaders, offering a money package almost identical to SAG-AFTRA's last demand," chief negotiator for the publishers, Scott Witlin, said. "We are greatly disappointed that SAG-AFTRA refuses to allow its members to have a democratic vote on our proposal and decide if the significant money on the table is acceptable to them. The strike is going to hurt the SAG-AFTRA performers that these Companies value."
"The strike will have little to no immediate impact on the ability of fans to buy and play the video games they love as the majority of upcoming games already are in production--and the union is not permitted to strike most of the games due to the nature of the 'No Strike Provisions' of the interactive media agreement," he added. "The sad part is that the very performers who these Companies value--and who are impacted by the union decision to strike--never got a chance to vote on the Companies' proposal."
The final offer from the video game industry was an immediate 9 percent wage hike and "additional compensation" of up to $950 per game depending on the number of sessions a performer worked on a game.
"We value our performers and their dedication," Witlin said. "Many of the Companies and people on our committee are the best evangelists for the use of SAG-AFTRA members in this industry. It is unfortunate that SAG-AFTRA rushed into a strike that will immediately and directly take money out of their members' pockets."