Edinburgh-based game developers, Rockstar Games, have been accused of ‘union busting’ after over 30 members of staff were fired last Friday, leading to a protest yesterday outside their Edinburgh offices.
The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) have stated that the sacking was due to ‘trade union activities’, explaining that all the members of staff fired were all part of a private trade union Discord channel and members of IWGB.
The union led protests outside the company’s offices in Edinburgh and parent company Take Two’s offices in London on Thursday over what the union called a ‘stand up in defiance against this disgusting attempt to crush worker unity’.
Since these protests Rockstar games have claimed that workers were fired for sharing confidential information, not being part of the union.
Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto series is the most profitable videogame franchise in the world with the last installment generating a staggering $1 billion in its first three days of sales and going on to make over $7 billion. Grand Theft Auto VI, which as of yesterday was postponed until November 2026 (with rumours circulating it could now be postponed to 2028), is expected to break all records and earn Rockstar upwards of $10 billion.
In an announcement last Friday, prior to yesterday’s protest, IWGB President Alex Marshall said:
“Rockstar has just carried out the most blatant and ruthless act of union busting in the history of the games industry. This flagrant contempt for the law and for the lives of the workers who bring in their billions is an insult to their fans and the global industry.
Chair of the IWGB, Spring McParlin-Jones, added:
“Next year, Grand Theft Auto VI is expected to make upwards of $10 billion. Such a flagrant attack on workers’ rights from such a valuable studio sends a very clear and shocking message to the world, that money matters more than people.”
Commenting on Rockstar’s announcement that workers were fired for sharing confidential information, IWGB have explained that they refute that confidential information was shared publicly and explained that: “Workers only communicated in private and on legally protected trade union channels and did not leak any informaton publicly”.
Hosting a protest yesterday in Edinburgh, Alex Marshall explained:
“This morning’s protest saw so many people from across the games sector and beyond stand up in defiance against this disgusting attempt to crush worker unity. We want to assure Take Two and Rockstar that today’s action was only just the start. If they plan to dig their heels in on the most egregious union busting the sector’s ever seen, then they can get used to seeing us on their doorstep – we will not stop coming back until we get justice for these workers.
“Management are showing they don’t care about delays to GTA VI, and that they’re prioritising union busting by targeting the very people who make the game. At every turn, they’ve chosen profits over both workers and fans of their games. The only non Rockstar employees in the union Discord channel were union organisers.”
