In light of Rockstar Games having fired over 30 of its employees early this month citing “gross misconduct”, the former developers recently held a new protest where they spoke out against the company. As caught by Dexerto, the protest took place outside Rockstar North’s offices in Edinburgh, Scotland, and had the former employees called the company out for engaging in union busting.
“When I look at Rockstar now, I see a giant international corporation, a machine that creates billions in value for its overseas shareholders in an industry rife with work exploitation, unfair practice, and unreasonable working conditions,” said a protester outside the company’s offices, going on to call the company out for having benefited from “hundreds of millions in tax breaks designed to promote British values”.
“Grand Theft Auto 6 will make billions, that’s not in doubt,” they continued. “Shareholders will get rich, fortunes will be made. But I want people to think of the human cost. The people burnt out, the careers ended, the lives in disarray.”
Among the protesters was a former employee that went by the name Jack, who had previously been a part of Rockstar’s QA department for almost four years. He spoke about joining the union, as well as the long-term ramifications of Rockstar having fired the employees in its efforts at union busting.
“I was scared at first, I was apprehensive to join,” said Jack. “Like many of my colleagues in QA I always felt a bit more dispensable and a bit less skilled than workers in other departments,” he said. “I thought that by joining the union, I could be putting a target on my back. No one should ever feel this way when organizing in their workplace.”
“The 34 of us affected by this are no different. We had plans that hinged on our continual employment at Rockstar. We had plans that involved financial stability. My affected friends had plans to support their families and children. They had healthcare plans they relied on. They had plans that didn’t involve the potential to be deported from the country we call home.”
Just last week, some of the former employees had spoken about Rockstar Games’ actions, and how it had a major impact on their lives. Among these employees was also an organiser from the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB), who called out the company while also speaking about the union’s next steps. These steps included the reinstatement of all 31 UK-based and 3 Toronto-based employees that had been fired, along with full compensation for lost pay during the time period.
“What happens next is up to Rockstar,” continued the organiser. “We’ve just submitted our legal claim. The ball is in their court to respond. We hope they’ll resolve this with us amicably, right? This is, in the end, egregious, and to be honest, shocking. I have never seen a thing like this, not just in the game sector, but in UK trade union organising in the last 20 years. This is the moment where Rockstar can make that right.”
For more details on the firings, check out what a Rockstar Games employee has said about the incident, as well as the initial reactions to the firings.
