Rockstar Games accused of union busting in the UK

Rockstar Video games, developer of Grand Theft Auto VI, has been accused of intentionally shedding staff who have been attempting to unionize, Bloomberg reports. The Impartial Staff Union of Nice Britain (IWGB) claims over 30 staff who have been eradicated on the developer’s workplaces within the UK and Canada have been both already a part of a union or making an attempt to prepare.

“Rockstar has simply carried out probably the most blatant and ruthless act of union busting within the historical past of the video games business,” IWGB President Alex Marshall mentioned in a blog post concerning the layoffs. “This flagrant contempt for the legislation and for the lives of the employees who deliver of their billions is an insult to their followers and the worldwide business.”

Apart from the disruption of getting to discover a new job, the union notes that a number of staff who have been let go are significantly susceptible. “Amongst the employees dismissed have been these with visas sponsored by Rockstar and people with medical circumstances who will lose entry to important office healthcare schemes,” the union says. It provides that “all of these dismissed at Rockstar UK have been members of the IWGB Sport Staff Union discord channel, and seem to have been focused because of this.” In response to the IWGB’s claims, Rockstar’s writer and proprietor Take-Two Interactive informed Bloomberg that the layoffs had nothing to do with union exercise and as a substitute have been “for gross misconduct, and for no different purpose.”

Rockstar and Take-Two have come into battle with staff up to now over their return-to-office policy. Take-Two additionally laid off employees throughout a number of studios in 2024 and 2025, doubtlessly motivated by the choice to push back the release of Grand Theft Auto VI to 2026. The sport is anticipated to be a massive hit for the corporate and the broader business, which is a part of the explanation why the IWGB believes the layoffs are motivated by one thing aside from financials.