"Delay game, disappoint fans, all in a week's work for Rockstar": Labor group issues legal claims against GTA 6 dev Rockstar for "simple union busting" after firing 31 staff

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Rockstar Faces Legal Action Over Alleged Union-Busting Ahead of GTA 6 Launch

The Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) has filed legal claims against Rockstar Games following the firing of 31 employees, actions which the union claims were an attempt to suppress union activity ahead of the highly anticipated GTA 6 launch. Take-Two, Rockstar’s parent company, cited "gross misconduct" as the reason for the terminations. Rockstar stated that the employees were "distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum."

IWGB president Alex Marshall called the firings "plain and simple union busting" in a November 12 statement announcing the legal action. He emphasized:
"Employers like Rockstar would do well to understand that private spaces such as trade union Discord servers have protections, and that their company's contractual clauses do not supersede UK law."

According to an October Bloomberg report, all 31 affected employees were members of a private Discord group dedicated to discussing unionization. At the time, Take-Two spokesperson Alan Lewis told GamesRadar+:
"Rockstar Games terminated a small number of individuals for gross misconduct, and for no other reason. As always, we fully support Rockstar's ambitions and approach."

When asked for a response to the IWGB's legal claims, Lewis stated:
"We do not have any comments beyond the statements that both T2 and Rockstar Games issued over the last two weeks on the matter."

The IWGB has highlighted the issue on social media as well. In a November 6 post on Twitter, the union wrote:
"Fire 31 staff for organising a union, realise you've fucked up, put out a misleading statement about leaks even though there haven't been leaks, delay game, disappoint fans. All in a week's work for Rockstar."

Marshall concluded in his official statement:
"We will not be intimidated."

The legal dispute raises questions about labor rights in the gaming industry, particularly as major launches like GTA 6 approach and employee organization becomes a growing focus for the sector.

References

  1. IWGB — Official statements and Twitter posts regarding Rockstar terminations (November 2025).

  2. Bloomberg — Report on the fired Rockstar employees and private union Discord group (October 2025).

  3. GamesRadar+ — Statements from Take-Two spokesperson Alan Lewis regarding employee terminations.

  4. Rockstar Games — Official company statements on employee conduct and terminations.

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