Grand Theft Auto 6 is mere months away from becoming the biggest entertainment launch in history, but Rockstar Games finds itself in hot water over the abrupt firing of more than 30 employees.
The entire fiasco went public last week when news broke that Rockstar had terminated between thirty and forty employees, all of whom worked in UK and Canadian offices. According to the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain, every fired employee had one thing in common: membership in or connection to a private trade union Discord chat group.
The IWGB didn't mince words in characterizing what happened. They called it one of the most blatant and ruthless acts of union busting in the history of the games industry. On the other hand, Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, initially offered minimal explanation. Now, Take-Two has provided additional detail in a statement to Bloomberg.
“Last week, we took action against a small number of individuals who were found to be distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum, a violation of our company policies,” the statement read. The company is insisting that this has nothing to do with people’s right to unionize.
IWGB president Alex Marshall issued a forceful response to Take-Two's latest statement, painting the Company and Rockstar in a negative light for targeting the act of organizing itself, even going further by saying 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.
TLDR; IWGB is accusing Rockstar of willingly risking GTA 6 if it means preventing employees from unionizing.
Rockstar has become increasingly security-focused following the devastating GTA 6 leak in 2022, when a hacker gained unauthorized access to development systems and released massive amounts of in-progress footage and materials. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick called that incident terribly unfortunate and stated the company takes such matters very seriously indeed.
Following that breach, Rockstar implemented stricter security measures, including requiring employees to return to the office 5 days per week. This pattern suggests a company that has become increasingly controlling and suspicious in response to security breaches. And while they have every right to do that, you can’t help but wonder if Grand Theft Auto fans will be just as excited knowing that the upcoming sequel is reportedly built on the backs of workers who get fired for trying to organize.
Rockstar has already faced similar issues and allegations in the past. Even though it claims to have put these unhealthy habits behind it, the currently unfolding situation suggests there’s still plenty left for Rockstar to improve if the allegations are true.
For now, neither side shows signs of backing down. Take-Two maintains these were appropriate terminations for policy violations unrelated to union activity. The IWGB continues to characterize them as illegal union suppression and promises to fight back through available legal channels.
It’ll be interesting to see what Rockstar and Take-Two do in the coming days, especially with the company’s next earnings call just right around the corner.
