The soap opera of the struggle of video game voice actors against abuses by big companies continues unabated. SAG-AFTRA has called a new strike over a particular title, League of Legends, while alleging that the game’s producer, Formosa Interactive, tried to circumvent the lockout by hiring new non-union voice actors through a shell company to work on LoL.
Moreover, the workers’ union also accuses the company of attempting to cancel an undisclosed game that has been affected by the workers’ strike, this one related to AI regulation.
The union has reported the company to the National Labor Relations Board for unfair labour practices. “SAG-AFTRA charges that these serious actions are egregious violations of basic principles of labour law: employers may not interfere with the right of artists to form or join a union and may not discriminate against unionised artists,” said a union representative.
We will have to wait a little longer to see how far this escalation between workers and management will go. Formosa is precisely one of the companies least favourable to negotiate the Interactive Media Agreement with which the union wants to protect the original work of voice artists from the unmeasured use of AI.
We will keep an eye out for any news on this issue and on the future of League of Legends.
Thanks, The Hollywood Reporter.