Rockstar Games has fired 30 to 40 employees in the UK and Canada, accusing them of leaking confidential information. The IWGB union claims otherwise: they were workers who were trying to unionize, and the company “removed the unwanted” under the pretext of violations. Rockstar said the employees had publicly discussed confidential corporate data, violating company policy. A Take-Two Interactive spokesman added that the dismissals were due to “gross misconduct” and not union activity.
The IWGB, a union representing a portion of the games industry, says this is untrue. According to them, it was precisely those employees who supported the unionization that were fired in a “brutal and showy manner.” The IWGB has vowed to challenge the decision in court and demand the reinstatement of the employees.
The dismissal came amid intense work on Grand Theft Auto VI, which is expected to be released on May 26, 2026. The game is already being called a potential record-breaker in global sales with possible profits of over $10 billion.
Rockstar Games has a long history of internal tension: from numerous complaints about excessive “crunch” to long-standing conflicts over working conditions.
Unions have been actively forming among developers, artists and QA specialists in recent years – especially in large studios, where workloads and work pressure are traditionally high.
This is not the first time that the IWGB Game Workers Union has openly criticized Rockstar and other large studios for opaque personnel decisions and the lack of mechanisms to protect workers.
The situation surrounding Rockstar has intensified the discussion about workers’ rights in game development, where high competition and intensive work are often combined with a lack of union protection. If the layoffs were indeed union-related, the consequences for the company could be serious, both legally and reputationally. The case is yet another reminder that an industry that makes billions cannot ignore labor standards.
