Rockstar Games Denies Union Busting, Says Fired Employees Breached Company Policy

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Following the UK government’s announcement of an investigation into the recent layoffs at Rockstar Games – where over 30 employees were fired – the studio has reaffirmed its position. It claims the firings were solely due to employees discussing private company details publicly. In a statement to IGN, the Grand Theft Auto developer strongly denied claims that the layoffs were related to preventing unionization, calling those suggestions “entirely false and misleading.”

Rockstar Games has taken action against a small number of people in the UK and other countries who shared secret company information online, including details about games that haven’t been released yet. This violated company policy and the law. Rockstar stated that claims these actions were related to union involvement are untrue.

This announcement follows a promise from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to investigate Rockstar Games. He made the commitment during a recent parliamentary session after MP Chris Murray raised concerns about recent layoffs and accusations that the company is working against unionization efforts.

During a recent session, MP Murray reported that Rockstar Games, a video game company in their district, dismissed 31 employees last month without providing proof or involving union representatives. The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) believes this was an attempt to discourage union activity. After meeting with Rockstar, Murray remains concerned about potential legal violations and agrees with the IWGB’s assessment that the company may be suppressing union efforts, as they were unable to provide sufficient reassurance regarding compliance with employment law.

Considering this government has overseen the largest improvements to workers’ rights in decades, does the Prime Minister believe all businesses, no matter how profitable, should adhere to UK employment laws, and that all workers should have the freedom to join a union?

This is a very worrying situation,” Starmer said. “Everyone who works has the right to join a union, and we’re committed to protecting and improving workers’ rights. We want to make sure people aren’t punished for being union members. Our team will investigate this specific case raised by Mr. Murray and will let him know what they find.

News emerged in November that Rockstar Games had let go of several employees. Alex Marshall, president of the IWGB union, strongly criticized the company, calling it a particularly harsh example of anti-union behavior within the gaming industry.

As a huge Rockstar fan, I’m honestly shocked and really disappointed to hear about how they’ve been treating their workers. It sounds like they’ve actively worked against unionization in a really harsh way, and frankly, it feels like a slap in the face to those of us who love their games and to everyone in the industry. It’s incredibly disrespectful to the people who actually make those billions for them.

Recent reports show that employees who were let go were simply using Discord to talk about forming a union. This happened after Rockstar Games removed non-work-related channels from their Slack workspace, leaving employees with no other platform to connect and discuss these topics. As a result, they turned to Discord.

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2025-12-12 14:11