League of Legends skins won’t get custom VO while SAG-AFTRA strikes Formosa Interactive

The video game voice actors strike is entering its fifth month, and Riot Games is making “temporary changes” to how it handles voices for in-game Leage of Legends skins. These changes come months after SAG-AFTRA called for Formosa Interactive, the popular MOBA’s voiceover studio, to be struck back in September.

Since League’s PC version is a struck title, union actors aren’t allowed to record lines for it while the strike is active. As such, skins for champions with actors based in the United States will use already-recorded “base voiceovers (VO)” rather than lines done by different actors. When the strike ends, the studio will update those affected skins with new lines from their original actors “as soon as scheduling and availability will allow.”

Some skins alter a character’s voice, and actors change their performance and record new lines to reflect that theming. Riot said its new ‘policy’ only affects English-language voices, so other languages will have custom VO “as planned.” It also noted that while the mobile game League of Legends: Wild Rift is not struck, it will ship character skins with similar base VO if an actor for that title opts to not record in solidarity with their peers.

“We know this isn’t ideal, and we understand it’s frustrating to have to wait for custom VO,” said Riot. “But this approach lets us respect the ongoing strike while continuing to deliver new content. We’re committed to bringing you updated VO with the quality you expect as soon as we can.”

Riot was pulled further into the strike’s orbit when the actors union filed an unfair labor charge against Formosa and accused it of seeking non-union talent on a struck game from Riot.

Shortly after, the developer released a statement saying it was uninvolved in Formosa’s alleged behavior, and that the project in question “relates to a non-Riot League of Legends skins won’t get custom VO while SAG-AFTRA strikes Formosa Interactive, and has nothing to do with League or any of our games.”

For its part, Formosa had also dismissed SAG-AFTRA’s accusations at the time, saying it “has not acted in any manner to undermine employee or union rights, nor our relationship with the union. […] We stand with developers, publishers, platform holders, and talent to support global game development in a way that is safe and ethical for all.”

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