Anime Actors Unite Against Genshin Impact Over Unpaid Wages

By Megan Peters

While it may seem like a glamorous gig, acting has never been harder than it is today. If the industry's over-saturation was not bad enough to deal with, news issues present themselves each day. Not long ago, the SAG-AFTRA union voted to go on strike because of the industry's unchecked issues. Non-union actors are feeling the pressure as well, and right now, anime voice actors have banded together against Genshin Impact as reports of unpaid wages surfaced this weekend.

The situation comes from social media as voice actor Brandon Winckler spoke out on the issue. The star, who has voiced characters in tons of anime and games, spoke out against Genshin Impact for unpaid wages after having their fifth email inquiry go unheard.

"Inexcusable for us as actors to be waiting 4+ months for pay when you make $86 million per month. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon problem. It's really hard to justify working on something for the sake of work when you can't afford to eat," Winckler shared.

"I can only speak for myself but I build my budget months in advance trying to accommodate this, and not be a pain. Because I love to act, I love working on the games/shows these studios work on. A game like this WITHOUT A DOUBT, should be a union production. With all that said, I personally won't be working on this game anymore unless it goes under a Union contract. I don't have much to lose from this choice – and if I'm lucky, I hope others will at least see where I'm coming from with that choice."

Winckler, who voices several minor characters in Genshin Impact, is not alone in their unpaid dues. Corina Boettger, the actor who voices Paimon, admitted they hadn't been paid for recent work either. Their initial callout was more vague than Winckler's own, but after the Genshin Impact team addressed these wage complaints, Paimon's VA said they had been contacted to resolve the issue.

As for the statement released by Genshin Impact, it came straight from the Hoyoverse team. It was there the company said the payment delay was caused by the studio it uses for dubbing. ""We truly regret to learn about the ongoing situation. Genshin Impact values and respects the work and effort of everyone involved, and we support our voice actors to claim their proper due. We have made payments to our recording studio on time, and we immediately urged the studio to pay our voice actors from our past payment. Meanwhile, we are also seeking alternative solutions. And we will keep you posted on further developments," the post reads.

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As you can imagine, voice actors from across the industry were quick to speak out on this issue. While SAG-AFTRA does cover voice actors, a number of anime actors aren't part of the guild due to non-union contracts. The majority of English anime dubs aren't cast through a union, so actors aren't able to join SAG-AFTRA through this work alone. Without union protection, well – you can see how messy things can get for our favorite voice actors. Thankfully, Hoyoverse was quick to address this issue as a number of anime actors provide voices for Genshin Impact, but this promptness isn't promised for every delay.

What do you think about this latest voice acting upset? Let us know what you think in the comments below as well as on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!

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