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 Employees’ Union of Nice Britain (IWGB), which represents individuals working within the gaming sector, mentioned 31 staff have 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 mother or father firm, Take-Two Interactive, for remark, which has reportedly claimed workers have been sacked for sharing confidential info.

“Final week, we took motion in opposition to a small variety of people who have 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 by no means associated to individuals’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 workers usually 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 probably 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 mentioned.

“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.”

In line with the IWGB, the UK staff fired on the finish of October have been a part of a bunch discussing forming a union on the firm.

Mr Marshall mentioned its solely non-Rockstar workers have been union organisers.

Chatting with the BBC at a picket exterior the Rockstar North workplace in Edinburgh, organiser Fred Carter mentioned 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 mentioned.

“We’re asking individuals to come back out and assist us, to demand their jobs again and demand accountability from Rockstar.”

After clips from Grand Theft Auto 6 have been leaked on-line following a hack in 2022, Rockstar said it value the agency $5m (£3.8m) and 1000’s of hours of workers time to get better.

However Mr Marshall of the IWGB mentioned 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”.