Strike authorized

Good Morning. What are you doing in my swamp?

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And in the morning, I’m making waffles.

— Derek Neville, Tim Rhyne

MAIN QUEST: Another Strike?

As one strike seems to be reaching a resolution, another could just be starting. SAG-AFTRA members voted to authorize a strike against video game companies as the two sides continue to negotiate a new agreement.

The most recent agreement between SAG-AFTRA members and video game companies expired last year and has been extended on a monthly basis as the two sides have been negotiating.

Along with pay demands, one of the biggest issues on the table is AI. Both voice actors and motion capture actors have expressed concern regarding AI being used to generate scenes, especially when an actor’s likeness is being used to train the AI model.

The companies that are facing a potential strike include the likes of Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Epic, Take 2, and Disney.

Step Back: Of the 34,687 SAG-AFTRA members who cast ballots, over 94% were in favor of authorizing a strike — well above the required 75% needed to move forward. While members were overwhelmingly in support of the strike authorization, it does not necessarily mean a strike will happen. The sides will continue to negotiate, but now that a strike has been approved it could happen at any time if negotiations were to break down.

HUD

• 🌎 Blizzard announced that Chris Metzen will be taking on the role of Executive Creative Director for the World of Warcraft universe. Metzen was the creative lead on multiple World of Warcraft expansions.

• 🙇‍♂️ CD Projekt Red, developer of Cyberpunk 2077, has issued an apology after anti-Russian dialog and graffiti were added to the Ukrainian version of the game following its latest update. The Ukrainian localization of the game was handled by SBT Localization, a Ukrainian company.

• ⚖ The chair of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission said she plans to move to reinstate the net neutrality rules that were introduced in 2015 under the Obama administration and rescinded in 2018 under the Trump administration. The rules barred service providers from blocking or throttling traffic and offering paid prioritization.

MAJOR W

• 🛹 Tonk Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 coming to Steam next week.

• 🐛 SteamVR 2.0 was released into beta with promises of more to come when Valve has had a “chance to iron out the kinks.”

F IN THE CHAT

• 🧟 Resident Evil 4 Remake will boast a $60 price on mobile. Add more for DLC as well.

• 🛑 Cyberpunk 2077 mods have been temporarily disabled following the release of Phantom Liberty. The studio says this is so mod developers can update their mods to be compatible with the DLC.

• 📈 Capcom’s president and COO commented that they think “game prices are too low” stating that “development costs now are about 100 times more … but software prices haven’t gone up to that extent.”

CREATOR SPOTLIGHT: THORDAN SMASH

If you’re looking for quality FPS content, specifically Apex Legends, then you’re going to want to make sure you check out Thordan Smash. Thordan uploads almost daily to his YouTube channel, covering the biggest Apex Legends news — including leaks, updates, and first looks. He also live streams Apex Monday through Friday on his Twitch channel, with top-notch viewer engagement!

CAREER CORNER

• Product Marketing Manager, Platforms & Partners - Unity (Bellevue, WA)

• Social Media Manager - Intercept Games (Seattle, WA)

• Community Manager - Riot Games (Stockholm, Sweden)

HIVE MIND

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