Riot Games Addresses SAG-AFTRA Strike Against League of Legends Over Unfair Labor Practices

In a surprising announcement, SAG-AFTRA has issued a strike order against League of Legends, alleging that Formosa Interactive, a producer behind the game and numerous other high-profile titles, engaged in unfair labor practices.

Formosa Interactive serves as a support entity for various developers, specializing primarily in audio and art outsourcing. Many major game releases, including recent titles like Spectre Divide and Once Human, have utilized their studios for voice acting.

However, SAG-AFTRA contends that Formosa has engaged in union-busting tactics by attempting to exploit loopholes to bypass unionized workers, and they are one of several companies in a bargaining group that declines to enforce protections against the use of artificial intelligence for working actors.

Consequently, the union has opted to strike one of Formosa’s most notable projects: League of Legends.

“The complaint follows Formosa’s attempt to ‘cancel’ one of its struck video games shortly after SAG-AFTRA’s video game strike began. When informed this was not feasible, they covertly transferred the game to a shell company and distributed casting calls exclusively for ‘NON-UNION’ talent,” the union stated in a press release.

Arcana Ahri League of Legends — Riot Games

As one of the most popular games globally, League of Legends requires a continuous influx of fresh talent and resources to sustain its frequent updates.

SAG-AFTRA asserts that these actions constitute egregious violations of fundamental labor rights—specifically, that employers cannot interfere with performers’ rights to unionize, nor discriminate against union performers. Transferring union work to a “non-union” shell company is seen as an unacceptable attempt to evade strike action and undermine performers’ rights under labor law.

Though it may seem unusual to focus a strike order on a single game while targeting a company with widespread industry influence, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator, clarified the union’s stance: This is a warning.

“It’s alarming that Formosa and other companies disregard the fair AI terms already agreed upon by the film, television, streaming, and music industries, as well as over 90 game developers. Engaging in illegal unfair labor practices is intolerable for SAG-AFTRA members. Formosa will be held accountable, starting with an immediate strike on League of Legends.

The strike against League of Legends serves as a display of strength. Given Formosa’s significant role in production, any further actions from union members could have severe consequences for the development timelines of many high-profile games.

Riot Games has since responded, stating that Formosa is merely a partner and that the allegations levied against the production company are unrelated to League of Legends or any other Riot projects.

League of Legends has nothing to do with the complaint mentioned in SAG-AFTRA’s press release. We want to be clear: since becoming a union project five years ago, League of Legends has only asked Formosa to engage with Union performers in the US and has never once suggested doing… https://t.co/SH4XvY1qtA

— Riot Games (@riotgames) September 24, 2024

“We want to emphasize: since transforming into a union project five years ago, League of Legends has exclusively engaged with union performers in the US and has never suggested otherwise,” Riot Games stated in their tweet.

As of now, Formosa Interactive has not commented on the strike order, and it’s unclear how this will impact League of Legends.

This strike follows a SAG-AFTRA order that required union actors to withdraw from any projects initiated after September 2023, which remains in effect at the time of this writing.

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