SAG-AFTRA has added “League of Legends” to its list of struck video games in an effort to punish audio company Formosa Interactive for allegedly violating terms of the ongoing strike by video game actors.
The performers union officially un-exempted “League of Legends” from the walkout on Tuesday after filing unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against Los Angeles-based Formosa Interactive, which does postproduction work.
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists has accused Formosa — which counts “League of Legends” among its most popular projects — of attempting to “subvert the video game strike” by recruiting nonunion talent for one of its struck titles and operating under the guise of a shell company.
Roughly 2,600 performers doing voice-over and motion-capture work in the video game industry have been on strike since July after the union and video game developers could not reach an agreement on use of artificial intelligence.
“It’s bad enough that Formosa and other companies are refusing to agree to the fair A.I. terms that have been agreed to by the film, television, streaming, and music industries, as well as more than 90 other game developers,” Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, chief negotiator and national executive director of SAG-AFTRA, said in a statement.
“To commit illegal unfair labor practices is beyond the pale and won’t be tolerated by SAG-AFTRA members. Formosa will be held accountable, starting with an immediate strike of League of Legends.”
Representatives for Formosa Interactive and the video game companies did not immediately respond Tuesday to The Times’ requests for comment.
This is a developing story.
