GTA 6 studio Rockstar Games' firing of "at least 30 employees" reaches the UK Parliament as MP questions "what steps can be taken" to support the former devs

It has been a tumultuous few days for Rockstar Games recently, between yet another delay to Grand Theft Auto 6 and its "ruthless" firing of over 30 employees – a controversial, to say the least, wave of layoffs that has now managed to reach the UK Parliament.

Although Rockstar claimed the firings came after internal leaks of "confidential information" and were "in no way related to people's right to join a union" – specifically accusing former devs of "distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum" – president Alex Marshall of the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain disagreed. He stated that the so-called "public forum" was actually a private Discord server.

The "confidential information," he claims, consisted of discussions between devs of "material conditions at the company" – something that they'd "be legally protected to do," as Marshall put it. The layoffs resulted in protests outside studio offices, with fired devs and supporters claiming that Rockstar didn't follow laws in place to protect workers – and now, the uproar has actually reached the UK parliament.

As reported by Eurogamer, Christine Jardine, Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Edinburgh West, brought up the firings in a recent session in the House of Commons, sharing a clip of her statement in an online post. "Video game giant Rockstar has sacked more than 30 workers across the UK, including my constituents working at their Edinburgh office," it reads. "I urged Ministers to support workers who have lost their jobs, and stop this from happening again."

In the video, Jardine can be seen addressing the layoffs to the gathering of politicians. "I declare an interest because I have an employee who works for the company I'm about to mention, though they are not affected by the actions taken. That company is video game company Rockstar, which has fired at least 30 employees across its UK studios, including Rockstar North in Edinburgh," she explains.

"Several of my constituents have been affected, and some came to see me last week to express concerns. They claim they have been sacked because they were trying to unionize, and were discussing working conditions in private," continues Jardine. "But Rockstar has accused them of distributing confidential information and sacked them for gross misconduct." The MP then reveals that she has reached out to the studio.

"I have written to Rockstar and asked for information on the issue," as Jardine concludes, "but I wondered if I can have a meeting with the relevant minister to discuss what steps can be taken to support [the affected employees]." It seems that her message for future action to support workers like those fired by Rockstar is moving forward, too, as the response she's given by Sir Alan Campbell, leader of the House of Commons, ignites hope for changes to come.

"The sector she talks about is really important to the growth of the economy, but so too are rights at work, and successful companies are those that give decent rights and conditions at work, decent rights and conditions for the people they employ," he admits. "So, I will raise it with ministers and see what action, if any, can be taken to resolve this."

GamesRadar+ has also reached out to the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain for comment. The union has yet to reply, but readers can keep an eye out here for further updates on the matter.

This isn't the first time Rockstar has made its way into politicians' discussions, as news of the GTA 6 delay reached the Polish parliament just days ago.