After the SAG-AFTRA union called for a strike against League of Legends, Riot Games released a statement aimed at distancing the developer from the accusations behind the strike.
The union called on members to initiate strike action yesterday, with SAG-AFTRA outlining in a press release on its website why it had chosen to take this step, citing what it called “unfair labor practices” by production company Formosa Interactive, which focused on The voice of League of Legends.
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SAG-AFTRA claimed in its post that it had filed unfair labor practice charges against Formosa with the U.S. National Bureau of Labor, with the company also citing God of War Ragnarok, Destiny 2’s The Final Shape expansion, and Games like Apex Legends and its past projects.
“When they were told that wasn’t possible, they secretly moved the game to a shell company and sent out casting notices only to ‘non-union’ talent,” the union’s post reads. SAG-AFTRA alleges These serious actions are shocking and unacceptable.
“It’s bad enough that Formosa and others refuse to agree to fair artificial intelligence terms that the film, television, streaming and music industries, as well as more than 90 other game developers, have agreed to,” added SAG-AFTRA, national executive director. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, chief negotiator, said: “Illegal, unfair labor practices are intolerable and will not be tolerated by SAG-AFTRA members. Formosa will be held accountable, starting with an immediate strike by League of Legends .”
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Riot released a statement on Twitter regarding the incident. “League of Legends has nothing to do with the complaints mentioned in the SAG-AFTRA press release,” it wrote. “We want to be clear: Since becoming a league program five years ago, League of Legends has only asked Formosa to contact the league for U.S. shows The author never suggested doing this.
“Furthermore, we have never asked Formosa to cancel a game we registered. All allegations in the SAG-AFTRA press release about canceling games or hiring non-union talent relate to non-Riot games and have nothing to do with the league or any of our games.”
Formosa Plastics also issued its own statement, writing: “We completely reject SAG-AFTRA’s allegations and have not in any way harmed the rights of our employees or the union, nor our relationship with the union. We believe Heroes The strike on League of Legends has nothing to do with union claims. We stand with developers, publishers, platform holders and talent to support global game development in a way that is safe and ethical for everyone.
SAG-AFTRA members initially went on strike earlier this year over concerns that artificial intelligence could be used to provide voice acting for video games.
