GTA 6 creators Rockstar have been called out by a member of the UK parliament for dismissing 31 Rockstar North employees in an alleged instance of union-busting. The politician in question, Christine Jardine of Edinburgh West and the Liberal Democrats, says that she has been approached by several of the fired developers, whom Rockstar accuse of leaking confidential information during conversations with union organisers in a private Discord channel.
Jardine has asked the Grand Theft Auto company for more details, and wants a meeting with a government minister to discuss support for the affected workers. Intriguingly, she acknowledges that she has a conflict of interest in that one of her own employees also currently works for Rockstar.
“Video game giant Rockstar has sacked more than 30 workers across the UK, including my constituents working at their Edinburgh office,” Jardine wrote in a social media post last night, following the House of Commons session in question. “I urged Ministers to support workers who have lost their jobs, and stop this from happening again.” The post includes a video in which she gives a longer account, below.
I declare an interest because I have an employee who works for the company I’m about to mention, though they are not affected by the actions taken. That company is videogame company Rockstar, who’s fired at least 30 employees across its UK studios, including Rockstar North in Edinburgh. Several of my constituents have been affected, and some came to see me last week to express those concerns. They claim they have been sacked because they were trying to unionise, and discussing working conditions in private. But Rockstar have accused them of distributing confidential information, and sacked them for gross misconduct. I’ve written to Rockstar to ask for information on the issue, but I wondered, can I can have a meeting with the relevant minister to discuss what steps can be taken to support [the fired Rockstar staff].
Last week, RPS attended two pickets organised by the IWGB game workers union to protest the Rockstar North firings. At a London gathering outside Rockstar parent company Take-Two Interactive’s offices, IWGB president Alex Marshall defended the right of the developers to organise and discuss their jobs in meetings attended by union members. He called Rockstar’s claims about leaked material “completely disingenuous”. The union are taking Rockstar to court over the firings.
In Edinburgh, meanwhile, freelancer Alan Wen spoke to several of the affected developers, who claimed that union membership at Rockstar reached the legal minimum required for statutory recognition under UK law shortly before the mass firings. One protestor at the Edinburgh gathering characterised Rockstar’s allegations of “gross misconduct” as a “nuclear option” to shut down the unionisation drive before it could gather too much momentum.
220 Rockstar North staff have now signed an open letter to management calling for the immediate reinstatement of the fired workers. Further protests have been held in London and outside Take-Two’s Paris headquarters. There’s another Edinburgh rally due on 18th November outside the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood.
Shortly after the firings, Rockstar and Take-Two pushed back the release of GTA 6 to November next year. It doesn’t strain credulity that company leadership might see a unionised workforce as a threat to their ability to impose certain working conditions, in order to ship the now repeatedly delayed game. Rockstar recently mandated a return to the office, in reports confirmed by several of the Rockstar North workers, and staff have crunched on projects in the past. It’s also credible that Rockstar might be hyper-sensitive about the possibility of project secrets going walkies following a massive leak of GTA 6 materials back in 2022.
This isn’t the first time GTA 6 and Rockstar have been brought up in a parliamentary session this week. Far right Polish politician Witold Tumanowicz of the Confederation Liberty and Independence group broached the “disturbing matter” of the GTA 6 delay in footage shared on Tuesday, presumably hoping to score some #based points with his online groupies.
