UK Politicians Slam Rockstar Over Half a Billion in Tax Relief

That last point connects to the other major controversy surrounding Rockstar right now. The company fired over 30 staff members in October 2025 in what the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) has called "the most ruthless act of union busting in the history of the games industry." Rockstar maintains the dismissals were for gross misconduct, alleging that the employees discussed confidential information, including specific features from unannounced titles, in a public forum.

The Glasgow employment tribunal denied the workers' application for interim relief in January 2026, though the IWGB noted that the ruling "does nothing to suggest that Rockstar will not be found guilty of unfair dismissal when the case goes to trial." The full hearing will proceed with a lower burden of proof.

Rockstar has welcomed the interim relief ruling and categorically denied all union-busting allegations. In a statement to The Scotsman, the company said that since the VGTR's introduction in 2014, it has "invested enormously in the UK, creating more than a thousand jobs in the creative sector across Scotland and England." They argue their investment "has helped put the UK at the cutting edge of entertainment globally and contributed significantly to UK economic growth, skills and innovation."

Rockstar North in Edinburgh, which started life as DMA Design in Dundee, is one of the UK's most significant game development studios. The Grand Theft Auto franchise has sold more than 455 million copies worldwide. Rockstar employs people across offices in Edinburgh, Dundee, London, Leeds, and Lincoln. The economic ripple effects of that employment are real.

But the optics remain difficult. Rockstar's co-founders Sam and Dan Houser recently appeared on the UK Rich List with a combined net worth exceeding £400 million. Take-Two's internal royalties stood at $2.5 billion between 2014 and 2019, with GTA V alone generating $583 million in royalties in a single year. When a company generating this kind of wealth is simultaneously collecting £70 million annually in taxpayer support while paying shareholders £85 million, the phrase "Grand Theft Tax" starts making sense even if there isn't any wrongdoing involved.

For what it's worth, this kind of controversy is not unique to Rockstar or even to the UK. Governments around the world use tax incentives to attract major entertainment productions. The film industry has operated under similar schemes for decades. Without these incentives, companies would simply develop their games somewhere else, taking jobs and economic activity with them.

With GTA 6 set to launch on November 19, 2026, and expected to generate $3.2 billion in its first year, this debate is not going away. If anything, it's going to get louder.

It'll be interesting to see how Rockstar responds to this, especially since it's still set to be put under the microscope by the UK government.