Grand Theft Auto studio accused of ‘union busting’ after sacking workers

Grand Theft Auto (GTA) maker Rockstar Video games has been accused by a commerce union of sacking workers within the UK to cease them from unionising.

The Impartial Staff’ Union of Nice Britain (IWGB), which represents folks working within the gaming sector, stated 31 staff had been fired from Rockstar’s UK studios on 30 October.

The union led rallies exterior the corporate’s places of work in Edinburgh and London on Thursday to protest what it described as “probably the most blatant and ruthless act of union busting within the historical past of the video games business”.

The BBC has approached Rockstar’s mum or dad firm, Take-Two Interactive, for remark, which has reportedly claimed workers had been sacked for sharing confidential info.

“Final week, we took motion towards a small variety of people who had been discovered to be distributing and discussing confidential info in a public discussion board, a violation of our firm insurance policies,” a Rockstar spokesperson told Bloomberg in a statement.

“This was on no account associated to folks’s proper to hitch a union or have interaction in union actions.”

At massive online game studios, details about recreation growth is tightly managed – with staff typically signing agreements to not share confidential info.

Rockstar’s upcoming GTA 6 is anticipated to be one of many best-selling video games of all time, with followers clamouring for any information forward of its Could 2026 launch date – that means safety round any info will likely be heightened on the studio.

However union president Alex Marshall accused Rockstar of deflecting from the “actual purpose” for firing workers – which the IWGB believes is their union involvement.

“They’re afraid of exhausting working workers privately discussing exercising their rights for a fairer office and a collective voice,” he stated.

“Administration are displaying they do not care about delays to GTA VI, and that they are prioritising union busting by concentrating on the very individuals who make the sport.”

Based on the IWGB, the UK staff fired on the finish of October had been a part of a bunch discussing forming a union on the firm.

Mr Marshall stated its solely non-Rockstar staff had been union organisers.

Chatting with the BBC at a picket exterior the Rockstar North workplace in Edinburgh, organiser Fred Carter stated he was standing alongside workers who had been sacked “with out warning” and “with out purpose”.

“They have been fired, we consider, as a result of they’re union members – which is a protected exercise within the UK,” he stated.

“We’re asking folks to return out and help us, to demand their jobs again and demand accountability from Rockstar.”

After clips from Grand Theft Auto 6 had been leaked on-line following a hack in 2022, Rockstar said it value the agency $5m (£3.8m) and hundreds of hours of workers time to recuperate.

However Mr Marshall of the IWGB stated the corporate’s transfer to dismiss greater than 30 UK staff confirmed it had “chosen income over each staff and followers of their video games”.