SAG-AFTRA calls for a strike against League of Legends

As the video game voice actor strike continues, SAG-AFTRA has added League of Legends to its list of struck video games. The union organization, consisting of over 160,000 members, also filed an unfair labor complaint against Formosa Interactive, one of the support studios that worked on the game.

SAG-AFTRA members are now no longer allowed to work on or promote League of Legends. If Riot Games employs SAG-AFTRA talent for its esports productions, the strike could potentially impact the 2024 Worlds tournament that is set to begin tomorrow. Additionally, promotion of League of Legends' spinoff show Arcane might also be affected as the show's second season premieres in November.

Formosa Interactive is a support studio that offers assistance to other game developers in a range of disciplines, including art, production, sound design, voiceover, and more. According to SAG-AFTRA, the studio attempted to cancel one of its games after the strike began in July. When that was unsuccessful, SAG-AFTRA claims that Formosa then secretly transferred the game to what the union described as a shell company and subsequently put out casting calls exclusively for non-union talent.

In response, SAG-AFTRA has filed an unfair labor complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Formosa Interactive and added the studio's highest profile game - League of Legends - to the union's struck games list.

"To commit illegal unfair labor practices is beyond the pale and won't be tolerated by SAG-AFTRA members," said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA's national executive director and chief negotiator. "Formosa will be held accountable, starting with an immediate strike of League of Legends."

The video game strike began on July 26th after SAG-AFTRA and a bargaining committee of video game publishers - of which Formosa Interactive is a member - failed to reach an agreement for a new interactive media contract. According to SAG-AFTRA, the bargaining committee refused to extend AI protections to voice and motion performers, while the publishers argued that the terms they offered were fair.

The Verge has reached out to both Riot Games and Formosa Interactive for comment.