Union actors could appear in early game demos, under new SAG-AFTRA plan

SAG-AFTRA has unveiled a new agreement that could see actors get involved much earlier in the game development process.

The Pre-Funding Pitch Interactive Media Agreement allows game developers to request union talent for their games before they have even been pitched to publishers. The actors can then be brought on for anything from an internal teaser trailer to a vertical slice gameplay demo, helping them show potential backers what their game could look like if funded.

“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,” said SAG-AFTRA president (and Lord of the Rings star) Sean Astin.

“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,” commented SAG-AFTRA executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.

One restriction put in place is that this agreement cannot be used for crowdfunded games. So, we shouldn’t see a rise in Kickstarters with big names already attached.

This comes as many devs express frustration over how hard it is to secure funding for their games. The union’s hope here would be that having an actor already cast before a game is announced, even if only for a demo, will get more eyes on the project. Of course, this would also ensure that devs are working with union talent, rather than going non-union.

SAG-AFTRA has long represented US gaming talent. As part of this, it has organised two strikes against the gaming industry, most recently a strike that ran from 2024 to 2025, to try to secure protections against generative AI.

This impacted the development of several games at the time, as members could not work with studios that did not reach an agreement with the union. Actors were also prevented from helping to promote the games they had appeared in before the strike.