At the end of October, Rockstar abruptly fired over 30 workers in what Independent Workers’ Union Of Great Britain (IWGB) – the games-focused branch of which was helping the workers organize – called "one of the most blatant and ruthless acts of union busting in the history of the games industry.” Since then, Rockstar has claimed that workers were “discussing confidential information in a public forum,” but IWGB has countered by saying that the alleged public forum was a private union Discord, and the only other people in it were union organizers. Last week, workers, organizers, and those sympathetic to their cause convened outside publisher Take-Two’s offices in London and Rockstar’s offices in Edinburgh, Scotland to protest. As long as Rockstar refuses to reinstate those affected, the IWGB Game Workers Union says there’s more where that came from.
"We believe the [firings] were unlawful and retaliatory – connected to the workers' collective activity of organizing at Rockstar," IWGB Game Workers Union co-founder Austin Kelmore told Aftermath. "This action by Rockstar came shortly after reaching 10 percent of eligible workers at Rockstar in the union. … IWGB intends to pursue every legal avenue available to ensure the members are reinstated and receive interim relief effectively.”
On the same day as last week’s protests, Rockstar announced that it was delaying Grand Theft Auto VI from May 2026 to November 2026, which followed an original release date of fall 2025. Publisher Take-Two attributed the latest delay to a decision to give the “team some additional time to finish the game with the high level of polish players expect and deserve.” The announcement came as part of the company’s quarterly results, not an uncommon time for this kind of news, but firing over 30 workers in what was supposed to be the final stretch of development certainly won’t help the game get over the finish line.
"[The Friday before last], and then [last] week as well, some of the workers have stood outside of Rockstar North in Edinburgh with a big banner of IWGB Game Workers, and a bunch of their coworkers have come out,” said Kelmore. “I went on Monday and went to the office, and coworkers were coming out and talking about just how much they valued the people who were fired and how integral they were to their teams. Some people who have been fired had been there for years and years and years. [With] the knowledge they accumulated, people were like 'We don't know what we're going to do now.'"
Rockstar, for its part, has reason to be squeamish about Grand Theft Auto VI leaks, following a massive leak of a much-earlier-in-development version of the game back in 2022. But Kelmore, the IWGB, and fired workers don’t believe that’s the central matter at hand in this case.
"I was dismissed without warning, without evidence, and without a chance to speak for myself – all because I talked with colleagues in a private union chat,” said a statement from a fired Rockstar worker relayed to the crowd during the London protest. “We weren’t leaking anything or trying to harm the company. We were supporting each other, trying to understand our workplace and make it better. To lose my job for that is deeply unfair. No one should be punished for being part of a union or for speaking honestly about their work.”
The protests drew large crowds of game developers and other allies – including a contingent from Scotland’s green party – and fired Rockstar workers were encouraged by the turnout.
“It’s heartwarming to see so many of our colleagues supporting us and holding management to account,” a worker who was granted anonymity out of concern over ongoing negotiations said in a statement to Aftermath. “It’s clear to everyone close to this situation that this is a blatant, unapologetic act of vicious union busting. Rockstar employs so many talented game developers, all of whom are crucial to making the games we put out.”
“Rockstar has produced some of the most profitable products in the history of entertainment media, and it is the workers who have written, coded, and developed those games who are responsible for that," Patrick Harvie, a member of the Scottish Parliament, said in a statement to Aftermath. "It is the workers who make these games so profitable and legendary amongst the gaming community. Yet, the company has sacked dozens of them for simply exercising their right to unionise and demand better terms and conditions in their workplace, and Scottish Greens are proud to stand alongside those workers in Edinburgh."
This is not the first time in recent history – never mind the reports of crunch on Red Dead Redemption 2 and other projects from 2018 – that Rockstar has shown disregard for workers, nor that workers have organized to push back. Last year, IWGB and Rockstar workers voiced concern to Aftermath about a mandatory five-day-a-week return-to-office policy that they feared would lead to crunch and a loss of key employees, especially among those with disabilities. At the time, employees said Rockstar also used security to justify that decision, which similarly just so happened to confer greater control over the labor force. Back then as well, workers felt that the cost of losing staff outweighed any benefits Rockstar’s new edict could provide.
"Having people who've been through [the end game of a project before], who know what to do in that situation and know what's the best decision to make to solve a problem, is better than having people who haven't had that experience – who might make mistakes they otherwise wouldn't if there wasn't this pressure,” a Rockstar employee who was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly told Aftermath last year. “Losing key people in teams would be very, very bad."
A dismissed employee at Rockstar reads a statement: pic.twitter.com/wkIDU28NRJ
— ben (@videotechuk_) November 6, 2025
Now, following the 2025 firings, IWGB believes that Rockstar workers were unfairly dismissed and hopes to get them reinstated while they go through the UK and Scotland’s employment tribunals, which are specialized courts that handle labor disputes. Regardless of the outcome, IWGB at least hopes to get workers paid for the tribunal process’ duration. In the meantime and throughout, IWGB also plans to provide workers with financial support and a figurative megaphone with which to make noise.
"The main thing is taking care of the workers in the short term and making sure that they've got the support they need both from the emotional standpoint of [the fact that] they were hit with something that is dramatically changing their lives and also financial support, whatever that might look like,” said Kelmore. “As for how long [tribunals] take, they can take quite a while, which is why we're trying to apply additional pressure with protests, and the workers are making themselves visible outside of offices and not just going away. We want Rockstar to know that this is not something that we're going to take lightly."
This marks a change in strategy for the IWGB Game Workers Union, which was founded in 2018 and has been organizing UK game workers behind the scenes ever since. As of now it boasts over 1,500 members, but it has mostly kept its specific efforts on the down low so as not to blow up workers’ spots. Earlier this year, IWGB’s labor bore fruit in the form of the UK industry's "first recognized video game workplace union" at Disco Elysium studio ZA/UM.
Now, as IWGB and fired workers go on the offensive against Rockstar, Kelmore believes the Game Workers Union is entering a new phase of its relatively young life.
"Prior to this happening, we haven't ever really had people standing outside of companies with IWGB banners and organizing in a very visible way,” he said. “But this has changed that. When companies do something like this, you can't just slink away and hide anymore. It's a very public thing. It helps give people confidence that they can stay, because they have nothing to lose. They've already been fired. So they can be very public and organize and fight back. I think we are slowly starting to go over the curve of completely hidden to more public actions, and I anticipate more of these in the near future, too."
