Voice players need better things as first studio signs new UK game standards

In 2018, independent actress Karina entered the London studio for a series of blockbuster video games. With several male producers watching, they were asked to record sex scenes immediately.

I felt insecure. This was a great gamer. I did not have a manager to talk to, it is difficult for me to talk, ”he said.

Karina – not her real name – said she would have known about the incident in advance had asked for a closed space, where she could do better.

His experience is one of a number of factors that led Equity players to draft new rules, following years of negotiations with gaming studios, which sets the professional standards for professional voice performers.

The idea, the first of its kind in the UK, includes a commitment to inform players in advance of the type of game they have, the complexity and the type of person they are playing.

When a game is created, the producers hire the studios to record the actors and usually play several people within the game. This can be more than 100 hours of discussion.

Participants who participated in the session said they were not free to be asked to play for people of a different race, who spoke abusive language and religious insults.

The actors also said that they were asked to wear heavy weights to make them feel pressured while screaming for hours without a break, or asked to scream while shaking the water to show they had been electrocuted.

“If you lose your voice, you can’t continue to do it,” said Trevor White, an actor who helped negotiate. “You can always destroy.”

Anything that could damage the sound of theater should be recognized by the studio and actors should rest for at least five minutes an hour, the union said. Studios should also strive to keep the voice “up to two hours a day”.

The hourly rates for the performers are also determined, depending on the size of the studio. For regular games with a minimum of £ 5m, artists must be paid at least £ 600 for their first hour and £ 300 an hour thereafter.

The document also covers overtime costs, late payments and debt consolidation efforts.

The agreement allows the UK to comply with the US speakers’ arrangement, which went on strike until the same agreement was reached in 2017.

OMUK, which has worked on Horizon Zero Dawn and Game of Thrones, is the first studio to enter into the agreement, which will run until 2023 when fines will be monitored in line with rising prices.

Equity said some studios are interested in registering next year. Side United

Laurence Bouvard, chairman of Equity’s Screen and New Media Committee and an actor who has played roles such as The Witcher, said the pay varied “in vain” in the past as the business grew rapidly without direction.

“These companies are thriving and companies are coming out all the time. Studios want to know the rules on how to make a budget,” he said.

UK consumer spending on sports reached $ 7bn by 2020, up about 30 percent from a year earlier and rising by $ 1bn from 2018, according to a survey by Ukie, a UK sports watchdog.

With the emergence of new gaming publishers over the past few years, the industry has become increasingly competitive, with some studios cutting down the cost of actors and trying to attract the best publishers by offering the lowest package of voice services, says Mark Estdale, director and managing director. OMUK.

“The actors have always been passionate about the game,” he added. “You have found that this valuable competition is becoming part of the culture.”