Developers at Rockstar Games have publicly announced a union known as the Rockstar Game Workers Union (RGWU), which is a subsidiary of the wider Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB). It comes as the IWGB is preparing to take the Grand Theft Auto 6 maker to court over the firing of staff members in a move seen by many as ‘union busting’ in October last year, which sparked protests as well as legal action.
In a video shared across its social media platforms, the RGWU said: “We’re determined to win justice for the 31 fired workers, and to show studios like Rockstar that they cannot get away with this disgusting treatment of the people whose talent, skill, and creativity are what capture their audiences, and generate their billions.”
Rockstar itself has claimed the workers affected by last year’s dismissals were fired for gross misconduct. It was soon after this that the IWGB issued a legal claim against Rockstar, again noting that those affected were union members. At the time, the IWGB called Rockstar’s decision “the most blatant and ruthless act of union busting in the history of the games industry”.
The following month, more than 200 employees from Rockstar North signed a letter to management condemning its actions. In the time since, the issue has been brought up in Parliament, and in December, UK prime minister Keir Starmer called the controversial dismissals “deeply concerning”.
In addition to legal action, the RGWU said it is fighting for “pay transparency, flexible working, and an end to crunch”, as more and more Rockstar workers from across the company including those in Edinburgh, London, Leeds, Lincoln, and Dundee are joining the cause.
Amidst this ongoing legal battle, Rockstar is getting ready to release Grand Theft Auto 6, which is expected to launch on Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 this November. Early last year, a report suggested that GTA 6 could retail for $100. In April, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick discussed GTA 6’s price, and while he didn’t give us that all important figure, he stressed that the company’s “job is to charge way, way, way less of the value delivery”.
