GTA 6 Delay Sparks Union-Busting Allegations Against Rockstar Games

Just days before Rockstar Games announced another delay of Grand Theft Auto VI, the company also fired between 30 and 40 employees—and according to claims made by a current Rockstar developer (verified by GTAForums moderators) as well as The Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain, this was an act of union busting. While some rumors suggest that the delay may be unrelated, particularly considering the sheer size of Rockstar's game development staff, the timing is certainly questionable—and a number of parties are condemning the move as particularly underhanded on Rockstar's part.

On November 5th, Rockstar made an official statement to Bloomberg declaring that the firing was due to "gross misconduct"—specifically that they "took action against a small number of individuals who were found to be distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum, a violation of our company policies. This was in no way related to people's right to join a union or engage in union activities." This was in response to already-circulating accusations by The Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain that Rockstar had committed "one of the most blatant and ruthless acts of union busting in the history of the games industry".


The following day was when an anonymous Rockstar employee made a post to GTAForums, verified by moderator Spider-Vice as authentic. The firing is painted in a very different light by said Rockstar developer, claiming that employees were "handed an envelope with a short letter stating that their employment had been terminated for 'gross misconduct' regarding posts made in Discord", that "they failed to provide any evidence when asked, nor was any stated in the letter", that no Union representation was given in the meeting, and even that colleagues not in the studio that day were simply fired over the phone. One employee fired over the phone is even described as having a panic attack, only for HR to simply hang up on them—with the firing calls described as lasting only 2 minutes, and the in-person meetings just five.

According to the Rockstar employee, all any of these employees were guilty of doing was discussing working conditions and unionization efforts in a private Discord server accessible only by Rockstar employees and IWGB Union officials. Reportedly, the Union had only just crossed a 10% membership requirement that would allow them to start engaging in collective bargaining with upper management, and now that so many employees have been fired, there is a fear "That if they get away with this, they'll have nothing stopping them from doing this again and again", effectively preventing employees from  unionizing with full negotiating power. Reportedly, the IWGB Union "remains unbowed and is fighting to win the reinstatement of every dismissed member of staff at Rockstar through legal means and campaigning", but only time will tell how this plays out in the long term.


Considering how Grand Theft Auto VI has previously been characterized as "the largest game launch in history", mass firings and rumors of union busting paint an unfortunate picture of Rockstar leading up to release. Nobody wants their favorite games to be produced by employees working under abusive conditions, and if these union busting allegations prove true, higher-ups at Rockstar or Take-Two may very well be responsible of contributing to a negative working environment and potentially even the delays the game has faced. Reportedly, the original release date delay was down to "the needs or lack thereof for continued polish", but this mass firing of senior development staff suggests that polishing the game may not actually be what Rockstar is prioritizing.