Feed: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Feed Link: https://www.engadget.com/
---

Title: Rockstar Games accused of union busting in the UK

Link: https://www.engadget.com/gaming/rockstar-game...

Rockstar Games, developer of Grand Theft Auto VI, has been accused of
deliberately laying off employees who were trying to unionize, Bloomberg
reports. The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) claims over 30
employees who were eliminated at the developer's offices in the UK and Canada
were either already part of a union or attempting to organize.

"Rockstar has just carried out the most blatant and ruthless act of union
busting in the history of the games industry," IWGB President Alex Marshall
said in a blog post about the layoffs. "This flagrant contempt for the law
and for the lives of the workers who bring in their billions is an insult to
their fans and the global industry."

Besides the disruption of having to find a new job, the union notes that
several employees who were let go are particularly vulnerable. "Amongst the
staff dismissed were those with visas sponsored by Rockstar and those with
medical conditions who will lose access to essential workplace healthcare
schemes," the union says. It adds that "all of those dismissed at Rockstar UK
were members of the IWGB Game Workers Union discord channel, and appear to
have been targeted for this reason." In response to the IWGB's claims,
Rockstar's publisher and owner Take-Two Interactive told Bloomberg that the
layoffs had nothing to do with union activity and instead were "for gross
misconduct, and for no other reason."

Rockstar and Take-Two have come into conflict with employees in the past over
their return-to-office policy. Take-Two also laid off staff across multiple
studios in 2024 and 2025, potentially motivated by the decision to push back
the release of Grand Theft Auto VI to 2026. The game is expected to be a
massive hit for the company and the wider industry, which is part of the
reason why the IWGB believes the layoffs are motivated by something other
than financials.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/gaming/rockstar-game...
the-uk-221004334.html?src=rss

---
VRSS v2.1.180528