The Screen Actors Guild – The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has called a strike against League of Legends after claiming that Formosa Interactive “tried to derail the video game strike.”
In a statement, the union said it believes the actions of Formosa Interactive — which provides art and audio services to a number of AAA studios — “are a flagrant violation of labor law and have filed unfair labor practice charges against the company. National Labor Relations Board.”
“The complaint comes after Formosa attempted to 'cancel' one of its downloaded video games shortly after the SAG-AFTRA video game strike began,” the union says.
“When told that wasn't possible, they secretly turned the game over to a shell company and sent out casting notices only for non-union talent.”
SAG-AFTRA claims that “these serious actions are a flagrant violation of basic principles of labor law – that employers cannot interfere with the rights of performers to form or join unions and cannot discriminate against unionized performers.”
“The unilateral and covert transfer of union labor to a non-union shell company is an unacceptable and appalling attempt to avoid strike action and destroy the rights of performers under labor law,” the union concluded.
“It's bad enough that Formosa and other companies refuse to agree to fair AI terms agreed by the film, television, streaming and music industries, as well as more than 90 other game developers,” the national executive said. and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.
“Committing illegal unfair labor practices is out of line and will not be tolerated by SAG-AFTRA members. Formosa will be held accountable, beginning by striking League of Legends immediately.”
SAG-AFTRA voted to strike in late July after failing to reach an agreement with a bargaining group over rights and protections sparked by industry scrutiny of AI technologies.
Artists union SAG-AFTRA has secured deals with the developers behind 80 upcoming games as it continues to strike for better conditions for actors, including protections against the use of AI.