Grand Theft Auto studio accused of ‘union busting’ after sacking staff | EUROtoday

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

The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), which represents individuals 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 “the most blatant and ruthless act of union busting in the history of the games industry”.

The BBC has approached Rockstar’s mother or father firm, Take-Two Interactive, for remark, which has reportedly claimed employees had been sacked for sharing confidential data.

“Last week, we took action against a small number of individuals who were found to be distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum, a violation of our company policies,” a Rockstar spokesperson instructed Bloomberg in an announcement.

“This was in no way related to people’s right to join a union or engage in union activities.”

At giant online game studios, details about sport improvement is tightly managed – with staff usually signing agreements to not share confidential data.

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

But union president Alex Marshall accused Rockstar of deflecting from the “real reason” for firing employees – which the IWGB believes is their union involvement.

“They are afraid of hard working staff privately discussing exercising their rights for a fairer workplace and a collective voice,” he stated.

“Management are showing they don’t care about delays to GTA VI, and that they’re prioritising union busting by targeting the very people who make the game.”

According to 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.

Speaking to the BBC at a picket exterior the Rockstar North workplace in Edinburgh, organiser Fred Carter stated he was standing alongside employees who had been sacked “without warning” and “without reason”.

“They’ve been fired, we believe, because they’re union members – which is a protected activity in the UK,” he stated.

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

After clips from Grand Theft Auto 6 had been leaked on-line following a hack in 2022, Rockstar stated it price the agency $5m (£3.8m) and 1000’s of hours of employees time to get well.

But Mr Marshall of the IWGB stated the corporate’s transfer to dismiss greater than 30 UK staff confirmed it had “chosen profits over both workers and fans of their games”.