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

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 individuals working within the gaming sector, mentioned 31 employees have been fired from Rockstar’s UK studios on 30 October.

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

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 data.

“Final week, we took motion in opposition to a small variety of people who have been discovered to be distributing and discussing confidential data in a public discussion board, a violation of our firm insurance policies,” a Rockstar spokesperson informed Bloomberg in a press release.

“This was on no account associated to individuals’s proper to affix a union or interact in union actions.”

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

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 – which means safety round any data can be heightened on the studio.

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

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

“Administration are exhibiting 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 employees fired on the finish of October have been a part of a gaggle 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 outdoors 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 motive”.

“They have been fired, we imagine, 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 mentioned it value the agency $5m (£3.8m) and hundreds 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 employees confirmed it had “chosen earnings over each employees and followers of their video games”.