The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists announced Tuesday that Riot Games will join the group League of Legends as the game that was struck — meaning union voice actors currently working on the game must stop. SAG-AFTRA is also filing unfair labor practices charges against sound company Formosa Interactive for allegedly trying to circumvent the ongoing strike.
More than 2,500 video game executives went on strike in delayed July after nearly two years of negotiations with major video game companies. The biggest sticking point in the negotiations appears to be over the protection of artificial intelligence, but League of Legends strike is not related to AI. Instead, SAG-AFTRA is alleging in the press release that Formosa Interactive “attempted to ‘cancel’ one of its banned video games shortly after the SAG-AFTRA strike began” and then tried to transfer the game to a “shell company” so it could hire non-union actors.
In the unfair labor lawsuit, obtained by Polygon from a SAG-AFTRA representative, SAG-AFTRA provided more details: It alleged that Formosa transferred work to a company called Formosa Ocean Post that had not signed the Interactive Media Agreement. Both Formosa Interactive, LLC and Formosa Ocean Post are listed at the same mailing address in the California Business Directory; Formosa Interactive filed for registration in 2013, and Formosa Ocean Post filed in 2014. In addition to labeling the casting calls as “non-union,” SAG-AFTRA alleged that Formosa Interactive required “overly broad confidentiality provisions” in those casting calls. Riot Games, which develops League of Legendsis not involved in the dispute.
“SAG-AFTRA argues that these serious actions constitute flagrant violations of fundamental principles of labor law — that employers may not interfere with the rights of contractors to form or join a union and may not discriminate against unionized contractors,” SAG-AFTRA wrote in a press release. “The unilateral and secret transfer of union work to a ‘non-union shell company’ is an unacceptable and appalling attempt to avoid a strike and destroy contractors’ rights under labor law.”
So where is it? League of Legends Come in? League of Legends is developed and published by Riot Games, but outsources its voice work to Formosa Interactive, like many other vast companies. (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Hell Divers 2, God of War: Ragnarok, Dead space, Death on the beachAND The Last of Us Part 2 There are a few other games where Formosa Interactive handled the voice acting and sound design.) League of Legends is one of Formosa Interactive’s biggest ongoing games — and most importantly, a game that hasn’t been released before. Ongoing live-service games that went into production before August 25 were still fine for video game developers, as were games from companies that independently signed an updated interactive media agreement. League of Legendswhich was released well before August 25, was still allowed until Tuesday.
Riot Games isn’t necessarily involved in the dispute, except for relying on Formosa Interactive for narrative. Instead, League of Legends was selected to strike as one of Formosa Interactive’s largest clients — and is likely still employing voice actors. As with the rest of the industry, the strike won’t have an immediate impact League of Legends; games are produced long before they are released. But League of Legends is a game that regularly receives updates introducing fresh character voice lines and cinematics, and the strike may affect cutscenes or dialogue skins in the future.
AND League of Legends A representative provided Polygon with the following statement:
League of Legends has nothing to do with the complaint referenced in the SAG-AFTRA press release. We want to be clear: Since League of Legends became a union project five years ago, it has only asked Formosa to work with union contractors in the U.S. and has never suggested otherwise. Additionally, we have never asked Formosa to cancel a game that we have registered. All allegations in the SAG-AFTRA press release about canceling a game or hiring non-union talent refer to a non-Riot game and have nothing to do with League or any of our games.
What is worth noting, League of Legends The 2024 World Cup is scheduled to start on Wednesday. League of Legends Worlds is the pinnacle of the game’s esports scene and will span London, Paris, and Berlin for over a month. Voice actors rarely attend the event, but if any plans were made to include them, the actors would no longer be able to attend, in compliance with strike rules.
Polygon has reached out to SAG-AFTRA, Formosa Interactive, and Riot Games for additional information.
Update: This article has been updated with details about the SAG-AFTRA allegations of unfair labor practices, as well as a statement from Riot Games.
