What You Missed This Week in Video Games

“Game On” is The Fly’s weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks.

SAG-AFTRA STRIKE: Last week, SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, acting under the authority delegated by the SAG-AFTRA National Board, and with the unanimous advice and counsel of the Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating Committee, called a strike of the Interactive Media Agreement, effective July 26 at 12:01 a.m. “Today’s vote to strike comes after more than a year and a half of negotiations without a deal,” (MSFT), Blindlight LLC, Disney Character Voices Inc. (DIS), Electronic Arts Productions Inc. (EA), Formosa Interactive LLC, Insomniac Games Inc. (SONY), Llama Productions LLC, Take 2 Productions Inc. (TTWO), VoiceWorks Productions Inc., and WB Games (WBD). Any game looking to employ SAG-AFTRA talent to perform covered work must sign on to the new Tiered-Budget Independent Interactive Media Agreement, the Interim Interactive Media Agreement or the Interim Interactive Localization Agreement. These agreements offer critical A.I. protections for members. Negotiations began in October 2022 and on Sept. 24, 2023, SAG-AFTRA members approved a video game strike authorization with a 98.32% yes vote. Although agreements have been reached on many issues important to SAG-AFTRA members, the employers refuse to plainly affirm, in clear and enforceable language, that they will protect all performers covered by this contract in their A.I. language.”

“We’re not going to consent to a contract that allows companies to abuse A.I. to the detriment of our members. Enough is enough. When these companies get serious about offering an agreement our members can live – and work – with, we will be here, ready to negotiate,” stated SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher.

Following the announcement, Kotaku’s Ethan Gach reported that Take-Two’s highly anticipated upcoming game “Grand Theft Auto VI” is one of several in-development projects that is exempt from the strike. “I can confirm GTA VI is exempt,” a spokesperson for the the publishers involved in the dispute told Kotaku via email.

Click here to check out recent Media Buzz Sentiment on Take-Two as measured by TipRanks.

ROTH UPS EA PRICE TARGET: This week, Roth MKM raised the firm’s price target on Electronic Arts to $152 from $135 but keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The firm also raised its FY25 EPS view by 9c to $7.59 and its revenue to $7.54B from $7.46B, in part to reflect better than expected bookings for “NCAA Football 25,” the analyst told investors in a research note. EA appears to be turning the corner, although it needs to show it can effectively execute beyond sports, the firm added. The Fly notes that EA will report Q1 results after the bell Tuesday.

OTHER STORIES TO WATCH:

• Rumble (RUM) released a new app on Xbox devices (read more)
• Bandai Namco’s (NCBDY) “Armored Core VI” has sold over 3M units since its 2023 release (read more)
• Microsoft’s “World of Warcraft” team has voted to unionize, Bloomberg reports (read more)
• Meanwhile, Activision’s 2023 title “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III” arrived on Game Pass last week, the first time a game in the popular series has been available on the subscription platform (read more)