I've been seeing a lot of discussions and speculations regarding the EN VA strike and how it's affecting HSR, and I really want to write something factual to clear things up regarding the strike.

Source: My husband and his father both work in the LA movie industry. Husband went to theatre school and has many friends and classmates who are now active EN voice actors, some of whom have voiced roles in Hoyo games.

Disclaimer: I am not a legal representative of any company or organization. This post is entirely based on my husband's, his father's, and his friends' experiences working in the US voice acting and film industry, and it does not seek to represent any laws, regulations, or business/employment contracts related to the industry.

Let's lay out some facts (as far as I'm aware, these are facts) first:

I. None of the Hoyo games are union games

It's pretty clear that none of the EN-dubbed Hoyo games (Genshin, HSR, and ZZZ) are union.

II. Unionization is per project (aka. game), not per company

The SAG-AFTRA website states that unionization is a project-by-project thing, not per company. That means one publisher can make union and non-union projects (in our case, games) at the same time, which is entirely decided at the discretion of the publisher.

III. Recording studios do not (usually) decide on the unionization of a game

In foreign game dubbing, the publisher (aka. Hoyo) would usually find EN-speaking casting directors, give them the casting documents, and ask them to find/audition suitable voice actors. The casting directors, who often own their recording studio or are hired/attached to specific recording studios, would then ask the chosen voice actor to record at that studio (or remotely record). These studios are not involved in deciding whether a game is unionized. Recording studios are not responsible for signing anything with SAG-AFTRA, and there is no such thing as "Game X is struck because they're recording in Studio Y"

IV. The SAG-AFTRA strike calls for the cessation of work on all union games

The strike specifically calls for VAs to stop working on all union games. Hoyo games, being non-union, are not involved in this strike.

https://www.sagaftra.org/contracts-industry-resources/contracts/video-game-strike/ima-strike-notice-members indicates the strike is against "all covered services under the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists Interactive Media Agreement, Interactive Localization Agreement, and Interactive Low Budget Agreement"

V. SAG-AFTRA, by default, forbids union actors from working on non-union games

SAG-AFTRA has a Global Rule One, which indicates that no member of SAG-AFTRA can work on any project that has not signed the SAG-AFTRA contract. This applies on a global scale and does not exempt non-English/non-USA projects. See details here https://www.sagaftra.org/contracts-industry-resources/global-rule-one

VI. Only union games, or those who pledge to join the union, can sign the Interim Agreement (or, in Hoyo's case, the Independent Interactive Localization Agreement)

The current interim agreement can be signed by games who are currently affected by the strike. Non-union games that sign the agreement are agreeing to the union's terms as laid out in the agreement, and agreeing to a binding document from the union is effectively more or less saying "I'm willing to be union"

VII. Union games cannot hire non-union voice actors - see edit

EDIT! This is not 100% true. Non-union VAs will not be removed immediately if Hoyo goes union, and Hoyo can Taft-Hartley (basically, apply for an exemption for a non-union actor to work in a union production.) them. After that is approved, the non-union VA becomes eligible to join SAG-AFTRA. However, one actor can only get a max of 3 Taft-Hartleys in their life before they have to join the union, or they are banned from all union projects. This eventuality is why some non-union actors may not want to work union

Union projects must hire only union actors for all principal performers. A "principal performer," as far as my husband is aware, usually means an actor with a role that spoken dialogue attributed to that role only (aka. Not credited as "crowds" or "additional voices"). In voice acting, that's... every single named role? See the statement here https://www.sagaftra.org/may-i-hire-both-union-and-non-union-performers-my-sag-aftra-new-media-covered-production#:~:text=All%20Principal%20Performers%20and%20the,the%20performers'%20initial%20work%20date.

Taken together, the above facts mean:

1. SAG-AFTRA has banned all union voice actors from acting in Hoyo games (effectively forever) if the Hoyo games remain non-union
2. If the Hoyo games become union or sign the Independent Interactive Localization Agreement, Hoyo has to remove all EN VAs who are currently non-union, or all these non-union VAs will have to join SAG-AFTRA
3. Hoyo games (and recording studios) are not the target of the SAG-AFTRA strike. In a legal sense, they are collateral damage from the strike.

Now, as a HSR player, I asked some specific questions to my husband and his friends, which are particularly relevant to this game. So, here are the specific answers:

Q1. If acting in non-union games is banned, why did Hoyo games hire union actors to start with?
SAG-AFTRA has usually turned a blind eye to the union/non-union divide in video games, as the union is primarily focused on the well-being and unionization of movie, television, and radio actors. Many union voice actors would work on non-union anime/game dubbing and no one batted an eye, even though it's in theory forbidden by the union. This has been going on for 30 odd years. So it makes sense that union actors, especially those who are not very famous, would have decided to act in Hoyo games. Also, the union may be a lot more strict with monitoring union actors appearing in non-union games during a general strike call. It's possibly why some union actors, who previously were okay with acting in Hoyo games, are refusing to during the strike.

Q2. But [insert actor name] is union and they're currently voicing a Hoyo game
Each actor (and their agents) decides whether or not to accept different contracts on their own. Casting calls from casting directors will state whether the game is union. If a union actor is currently still voicing a Hoyo game, they do so at their own risk of upsetting the union.

Q3. But [insert actor name] is non-union and they're currently muted in a Hoyo game
The SAG-AFTRA's rules and terms were written for movie crews. There is zero consideration in the union regulations on projects that never stop development (aka. Hoyo games). The union rules presumed that the publishers hired the actors to perform for a while, then never engaged with them again. In the age of games-as-a-service such as MMORPGs/MOBAs/gacha mobages, actor's circumstances change and their union status is not black and white. An actor may be non-union when they signed up to Hoyo 2 years ago, thinking that they'll never join SAG-AFTRA. However, their career goals and priorities have changed as of 2025, and now they want to join the union. What do they do? They've voiced their Hoyo character for 2 years already. Do they keep voicing the character and violate union laws? Or do they stop voicing the character and give up that role forever and for it to be recasted? Like the answer to Q2 above, it's a personal decision, and there is no easy answer.

Q4. What can SAG-AFTRA realistically do to punish union actors who continue to voice Hoyo games?
While the union cannot sue any actor or fine them for voicing non-union games, the performing arts is a profession where connections and networks are more valuable than talent. The union CAN blacklist/ban VAs from industry lists, casting calls, auditions, networking events, conferences, etc. Depending on a VA's existing resources, it could be catastrophic for a young talent's acting career and paycheck.
EDIT: I just learned that the union can in fact fine union actors for doing non-union work.

Q5. Can Hoyo be sued/punished for recasting striking actors?
No. Labor laws state that an employee is protected from being recast if they're refusing to work as a part of an union's order to strike. The strike is however ordered against unionized games, not non-unionized games. VAs striking against EA/Blizzard/WarnerBros Games etc. are protected. VAs striking against Hoyo do so with zero legal grounds. Therefore, Hoyo is more or less justified in recasting them if they refuse to record, as the actors would be unilaterally refusing to work without a reasonable cause.

From the way I look at it, it seems Hoyo really only has a few realistic options: Wait out the strike (which is what they seem to be doing), stop casting union VAs for new roles (Amphoreus characters are probably all non-union), stop casting North American VAs for new roles to prevent what happens in Q3 (we're already seeing signs of this. Anya Floris, the VA for Fugue and the new Tingyun, appears to be a USA-born white woman living and performing in Tokyo. It wouldn't be surprising if she recorded the lines via Hoyo's Japanese dubbing pipeline and thus permanently free from future SAG-AFTRA issues), and recasting roles where the actor did not return to work for a long time.

Anyways, that's all I want to write to clarify the situation. As many others have stated, there are very few official announcements from the union regarding the specifics of the strike and things are very confusing. Please be reminded that though I write the above in good faith, I cannot guarantee that this post is 100% correct. I just want to shed more light on the EN dubbing industry and remove some misunderstandings seen in this sub. If you know more about the industry, or if you want to point out errors or discrepancies, please feel free.

Here's hoping that the union comes to an agreement with unionized game publisher quickly, kicks AI dubbing in the butt, and lifts the strike soon.