AFTRA, SAG negotiate new contracts for video game voice actors

It's fairly unlikely that you, dear reader, have done voice acting in video games, or are a card-carrying member of the Screen Actors Guild or the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. While this news might not directly apply to you, we thought we'd take a moment to celebrate the contracts these two unions recently negotiated with video game publishers to get better wages for their respective voice-acting members.

The contracts will bump SAG members' wages up 3 percent upon ratification, bringing SAG wage hikes into parity of those offered by the AFTRA. On April 1, both groups will receive another 2.5 percent wage increase. Publishers are also now required to inform voice actors as to when they'll be doing "vocally stressful work." We're not exactly sure what that means, but we think it applies to any gravel-throated protagonist ever featured in a first-person shooter. All that gruffness is rough on the ol' pipes, dontchaknow?

[Via Big Download]