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The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) has filed legal claims against Rockstar Games, the group announced today, alleging that the dismissal of 31 Rockstar employees earlier this month constituted “trade union victimisation and blacklisting.”
In a statement put out by IWGB, the group references the firing in early November of 31 Rockstar employees, which the group says were all targeted due to their involvement in a private chat group on Discord focused on unionization and organizing activities:
We are representing employees who were dismissed by Rockstar Games in circumstances that we believe amount to victimisation and collective dismissal linked to trade union activity.
Despite our representation and attempts to meet with Rockstar to resolve the matter through negotiation, Rockstar have declined and persisted to terminate members of the union in a manner that is unacceptable and unlawful. Accordingly, we have now issued formal legal claims against Rockstar on behalf of the Claimants.
Our members allege that Rockstar’s conduct constitutes trade union victimisation and blacklisting.
The group claimed at the time of the firings earlier this month that this constituted “blatant” and “ruthless” union busting. The IWGB’s claim has been submitted to the Tribunal, and will await a date for an initial hearing where it will be determined if the claimants are eligible for interim relief.
Rockstar disputed the union busting accusations after they were made, first stating that the employees were fired for “gross misconduct, and for no other reason,” and later specifying they were fired for leaking “confidential information in a public forum.” IWGB has disputed this claim, saying that the only non-Rockstar employees in the Discord were union organizers.
Last week, fired workers and supporters protested outside of Rockstar and publisher Take-Two’s UK offices, demanding the workers be reinstated.
IGN has reached out to Take-Two for comment.
All of this comes just as GTA 6 has been delayed for the second time, being pushed out to November of 2026 in an announcement made as part of Take-Two’s quarterly earnings report. When we spoke to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick ahead of this release, he defended the company’s culture, saying Take-Two was “incredibly proud of our labor relations.”
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
