A British commerce union group is accusing Rockstar Video games of union busting after it reportedly fired over 30 staff throughout places of work within the UK and Canada. The Grand Theft Auto 6 maker denies the costs, nonetheless, claiming the individuals have been terminated for “gross misconduct.”
“Rockstar has simply carried out one of the crucial blatant and ruthless acts of union busting within the historical past of the video games trade,” Impartial Staff’ Union of Nice Britain (IWGB) president Alex Marshall stated in a press release, first reported by Bloomberg. “This flagrant contempt for the legislation and for the lives of the employees who convey of their billions is an insult to their followers and the worldwide trade.”
However Rockstar mother or father firm Take-Two claims that’s not the case. “We try to make the world’s greatest leisure properties by giving our best-in-class inventive groups optimistic work environments and ongoing profession alternatives,” a spokesperson for the corporate stated in an e-mail to Kotaku. “Our tradition is concentrated on teamwork, excellence, and kindness. Rockstar Video games terminated a small variety of people for gross misconduct, and for no different purpose. As all the time, we totally help Rockstar’s ambitions and method.”
In keeping with Marshall, the one individuals fired from Rockstar have been all members of a personal commerce union chat group on Discord who had both signed up for IWGB membership or have been considering of doing so. Whereas the studio is made up of 1000’s of staff and headquartered in New York, the largest workplace is Rockstar North positioned in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Greatest identified for the Grand Theft Auto and Crimson Lifeless Redemption franchises, the studio is at present working to ship GTA 6 after its 2025 launch was delayed earlier this yr. It’s now set to reach in Could 2026. Whereas Rockstar Video games had a infamous historical past of crunching throughout improvement, the corporate has reportedly made massive strides lately in enhancing its work tradition. A controversial return-to-office coverage, nonetheless, confirmed there are nonetheless tensions between builders and administration on the studio.
