Voice actor strike averted until May 13

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) have been negotiating a new contract for actors who have been working in the video game industry since December 31. While the previous contract expired along with 2004, a contract extension was issued to allow actors to continue to work while the two sides discuss future agreements. The extension expired on Friday, but today, a new agreement was issued to extend the contract deadline to May 13, thus delaying a possible SAG/AFTRA strike until then. No details on the extension were disclosed.

"Representatives of Screen Actors Guild (SAG), the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and a group of video game publishers have agreed to extend the current interactive agreements to May 13th, 2005," read the official SAG/AFTRA statement. "Discussions on successor interactive agreements are continuing."

The previous contract was negotiated by Electronic Arts, but SAG/AFTRA representatives felt the agreement did not fairly compensate its members.