It’s an involved discussion, obviously. Those programmers, artists and designers theoretically are salaried employees with full benefits, such as health insurance, paid time off, bonuses and other full-time benefits that a contract player does not get. They also get far less regular work than those positions, which is one reason they are currently striking. Residuals are one of the few regular ways they can earn for their craft, which is in line with other performance artists, including music, spoken word, TV and Movie actors, who are all compensated for repeated showings or sales to things like streaming services and the like. Voice Actors in video games do not receive the same compensation as they do in other forms of media. Those designers and programmers will work regularly (often for terribly long hours) but are compensated weekly for years on a project. The voice actors will work anywhere from a few hours to a few days for that same project.
It’s also worth noting we’re not talking huge amounts of money, here. Earning $850 for four hours work sounds like fat money, until you realize they may only do that a few times a year for a handful of projects. Nobody’s making huge money as a voice actor.
