Rockstar Games (a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive) carried out a wave of layoffs during the final stages of development for GTA VI. Between 30 and 40 employees at the studio in the United Kingdom and Canada lost their jobs on October 30.
Bloomberg covered this event in a recent article. Rockstar cited « professional misconduct » to justify its decision. However, the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) gave a different version of events. These employees were part of a private union discussion group on Discord. Some were already members of the British union, and others intended to unionize.
Alex Marshall, president of the IWGB, accuses Rockstar Games of using these dismissals to prevent its teams from unionizing.
« Rockstar has just committed one of the most blatant and ruthless acts of union busting in the history of the video game industry. This blatant disregard for the law and for the lives of workers who generate billions is an insult to their fans and to the global industry. »
For his part, Alan Lewis, spokesperson for Take-Two, has officially stated that these dismissals were caused by « serious misconduct » and « no other reason ».
