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SAG-AFTRA members have ratified the 2025 Interactive Media Agreement with 95% voting in favour, bringing an official end to 11 months of strikes.
The new agreement means an immediate pay increase of just over 15% for performers, with additional 3% raises scheduled for November 2025, 2026 and 2027.
Overtime pay for overscale performers will now be based on double scale. Contributions to the AFTRA Retirement Fund will rise from 16.5% to 17%, and then to 17.5% in October 2026.
The new contract also includes safety protections and key provisions on AI, requiring consent and disclosure for the use of digital replicas. During a strike, performers will have the right to suspend consent for generating new material using AI.
Agreement reached
The vote has officially ended the video games strike, which had been on hold since a tentative agreement was reached in June. Members have since submitted votes online and by mail, leading to the official end of the strike after almost a year.
“I commend the strong leadership of Interactive Media Agreement negotiating chair Sarah Elmaleh, who remained steadfast through three years of hard bargaining while facing many challenging headwinds during a challenging negotiation cycle,” said SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher.
“This deal achieves important progress around AI protections, and progress is the name of the game. My sincere respect goes out to the entire video game performer community and their allies for their solidarity during the strike which provided the necessary leverage to secure this deal’s many essential gains.”
SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland commented: “All of us at SAG-AFTRA would like to extend our deepest appreciation to the video game performers and allies who endured a great deal of sacrifice throughout the 11-month strike.
“I’d also like to express my sincerest gratitude to the Interactive Media Agreement negotiating committee and its chair, Sarah Elmaleh, who have worked tirelessly for nearly three years in order to achieve these necessary gains and protections alongside our negotiating staff and lead negotiator Ray Rodriguez.
“Now that the agreement is ratified, video game performers will be able to enjoy meaningful gains and important AI protections, which we will continue to build on as uses of this technology settle and evolve.”
