SAG-AFTRA Plan Would Let Union Actors Join Games Before Funding

SAG-AFTRA has launched a new agreement that opens the door for union actors to participate in game development at the earliest possible stage, potentially appearing in internal teasers and vertical slice demos before a studio has secured any publisher backing.

What the Agreement Covers

The new deal, called the Pre-Funding Pitch Interactive Media Agreement, allows developers to formally request union talent for their projects prior to any publisher pitch, according to Video Games Chronicle. Under the arrangement, actors can be contracted for work ranging from brief internal teaser trailers all the way through to vertical slice gameplay demonstrations. The goal is to give prospective backers a sharper, more polished look at what a funded project could become.

One clear boundary has been drawn: the agreement cannot be applied to crowdfunded games. Developers looking to run a Kickstarter campaign will not be able to attach union talent through this route, keeping the agreement focused on traditional publisher funding pipelines.

What SAG-AFTRA and Its Leaders Are Saying

SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin, known for his role in the Lord of the Rings films, framed the agreement as a quality and opportunity play for developers. “This agreement allows developers to up their game by bringing in professional voice and motion performance talent earlier in the process to create a higher-quality product, with the goal of capturing both imaginations and funding,” Astin said, as reported by Video Games Chronicle.

SAG-AFTRA executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland added that the streamlined hiring process could give studios a competitive edge. “The Pre-Funding Pitch Interactive Media Agreement streamlines the hiring of professional union talent, and that can help give devs that extra edge to get the backing they need in an extremely competitive industry,” he said.

Context: A Union With a History in Gaming

SAG-AFTRA has represented US gaming talent for years and has not been shy about using its leverage. The union organized two strikes against the gaming industry, with the most recent running from 2024 into 2025. That strike centered on securing protections against the use of generative AI and affected game development at several studios during that period. Members were barred from working with studios that had not reached an agreement with the union, and actors could not promote games they had appeared in before the dispute was resolved.

The new pre-funding agreement arrives against a backdrop of widespread frustration among independent and smaller developers over how difficult it has become to attract publisher investment. By allowing a recognizable or credentialed cast to appear in pitch materials, studios may be able to generate more interest before a single dollar of development funding is confirmed. The arrangement also keeps those productions within the union ecosystem, steering developers away from non-union talent at the concept stage.

Sources: Video Games Chronicle