SAG-AFTRA Calls for Strike Against ‘League of Legends’, Latest Step in Game Actors’ Battle

SAG-AFTRA has added “League of Legends” to its list of video games being struck in an effort to punish audio company Formosa Interactive for allegedly violating the terms of the ongoing strike by video game actors.

The artists’ union officially lifted “League of Legends'” exemption from the strike Tuesday after filing unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against Los Angeles-based Formosa Interactive, which does post-production work.

The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists accused Formosa — which counts “League of Legends” among its most popular projects — of attempting to “subvert the video game strike” by recruiting non-union talent for one of its hit titles and operating under the guise of a shell company.

The union, which condemned Formosa’s alleged actions as “a horrific attempt to evade a strike and destroy artists’ rights under labor law,” also claims that the company tried to end the strike shortly after the work stoppage began but was told “it was not possible.”

Learn more:Video game industry players are on strike. Here’s what that means

About 2,600 voice-over and motion capture artists in the video game industry have been on strike since July after the union and game developers failed to reach an agreement on the use of artificial intelligence.

“It’s bad enough that Formosa and other companies refuse to accept the level playing field on AI that has been agreed to by the film, television, streaming and music industries,” Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s chief negotiator and national executive director, said in a statement.

“Committing illegal and unfair labor practices is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by SAG-AFTRA members. Formosa will be held accountable, starting with an immediate strike from League of Legends.”

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Representatives for Formosa Interactive and the video game companies did not immediately respond to The Times’ requests for comment Tuesday.

In a statement provided to the Times and posted online, “League of Legends” developer Riot Games said the title “has nothing to do with the (unfair labor practice) complaint referenced in the SAG-AFTRA press release.”

“We want to be clear: Since becoming a union project five years ago, League of Legends has only asked Formosa to engage with Union artists in the United States and has never suggested otherwise,” the statement continued.

“Furthermore, we never asked Formosa to cancel a match that we taped. Any allegations in SAG-AFTRA’s press release regarding the cancellation of a match or the hiring of non-union talent relate to a non-Riot match and have nothing to do with League or any of our games.”

Learn more:Video game industry strike: SAG-AFTRA says 80 games have agreed to AI terms

SAG-AFTRA is seeking a new interactive media agreement that would require video game companies to inform artists how their work will be used, obtain their consent and compensate them accordingly when they digitally reproduce their voices, movements or likenesses with AI.

Earlier this month, the union announced that the makers of 80 video games had reached side deals with SAG-AFTRA accepting the union’s AI terms in exchange for a strike pardon.

Audrey Cooling, a spokeswoman for the striking video game companies, said earlier that employers “have worked hard to come up with proposals with reasonable terms that protect the rights of artists while ensuring we can continue to use the most advanced technology to create great entertainment experiences for fans.”

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This article was originally published in the Los Angeles Times.