Rockstar Games has pushed back against the claims that a group of recently laid-off developers were removed for trying to unionize. Instead, these people were leaking company secrets, Rockstar said.
A spokesperson for Rockstar told Bloomberg that the staffers were “distributing and discussing confidential information in a public form.” This violated Rockstar’s policies, the company said. “This was in no way related to people’s right to join a union or engage in union activities.”
Between 30 and 40 people were fired from Rockstar’s offices in Canada and the UK related to what the developer labeled “gross misconduct.” A spokesperson for the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) said the affected staffers were involved in unionizing efforts and said Rockstar is guilty of “one of the most blatant and ruthless acts of union-busting in the history of the games industry.”
The union said the affected staffers sent messages within a “private trade union chat group” on Discord. The union acknowledged that outsiders were in the chat, too, but they were labor organizers.
IWGB president Alex Marshall said Rockstar’s management are “showing they don’t care about delays to GTA 6, and that they’re prioritizing union-busting by targeting the very people who make the game.”
In 2022, Rockstar suffered a massive leak that revealed the first footage and details about GTA 6. When Rockstar ordered staff back to the office in 2024, the company cited security concerns as one of the reasons for calling staff back. The union opposed this directive at the time.
GTA 6 is Rockstar’s next big release, and it’s set to launch in May 2026 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Rockstar’s owner, Take-Two, will release its next earnings report today, November 6, at which time the company is expected to communicate more about GTA 6, or at least re-confirm the release date.
In addition to GTA 6, it’s rumored that Rockstar is developing PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch 2 versions of Red Dead Redemption 2. A GTA 4 remaster could happen as well.
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