GTA 6 developer Rockstar is once again refuting allegations of union busting stemming from its firing of 34 employees in the UK and Canada this fall, calling the claims "entirely false" and accusing the former employees of leaking "specific game features from upcoming and unannounced titles."
Rockstar's apparently unexpected firings prompted immediate blowback from the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB), which represents all 34 fired employees. The IWGB labeled the move "the most ruthless act of union busting in the history of the UK games industry." Notably, all affected workers were either union members or planning to organize.
Rockstar parent company Take-Two Interactive has said the firings were due to "gross misconduct," and Rockstar itself has said the impacted workers had leaked "confidential information," insisting the dismissals were "in no way related to people's right to join a union."
In a new statement to IGN, the studio doubles down on that: "Rockstar Games took action against a small group of individuals, across the UK and internationally, who distributed and discussed confidential information (including specific game features from upcoming and unannounced titles) in a public forum, in breach of company policy and their legal obligations. Claims that these dismissals were linked to union membership or activities are entirely false and misleading," reads the statement.
Fired workers and union representatives dispute that version of events. IWGB president Alex Marshall claimed in November that the "public forum" Rockstar keeps referring to was a private Discord server where employees discussed their working conditions. According to Marshall, workers "should be legally protected" to communicate in this way.
Following several high-profile protests, the commotion around the firings has echoed through the highest echelons of UK governance, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer having recently described the situation as "deeply concerning" and pledging to "look into" it.
Meanwhile, the IWGB told GamesRadar+ in November, "If Rockstar wants to put things right it can reinstate the staff it fired, recognize the IWGB Union, and start listening to the workers that make it its billions." The union has filed legal charges against Rockstar over "unfair dismissal of staff."
