Rockstar Games has accused the employees it recently fired of leaking confidential information.
Last week, the Grand Theft Auto 6 studio reportedly fired between 30 and 40 employees in a move that the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) claimed was “blatant” and “ruthless” union busting.
At the time, Rockstar parent company Take-Two issued a statement insisting the firings were for “gross misconduct, and for no other reason.”
According to Bloomberg, the fired workers were all UK and Canadian employees who were also part of a private trade union chat group on Discord, and were either union members themselves or trying to organize Rockstar. The IWGB claimed the staff were fired explicitly due to union activities.
Now, a new Bloomberg report carried a fresh statement from Take-Two, in which the company insisted the fired staff had leaked company secrets in a “public forum.”
“Last week, we 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,” the Take-Two statement read. “This was in no way related to people’s right to join a union or engage in union activities.”
According to the IWGB, the fired staff were part of a private union group on Discord, and the only non-Rockstar people inside it were labor organizers.
These firings come ahead of the expected release of GTA 6 in May next year. Analysts predict it will be the biggest entertainment launch of all time. Amid huge excitement for the game itself, Rockstar has released just two trailers and a series of screenshots, keeping its cards close to its chest.
It has also put a focus on security after suffering a massive leak of the in-development GTA 6 in 2022, and the day-early release of GTA 6 Trailer 1 the following year. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick called the 2022 leak “terribly unfortunate… and we take those sorts of incidents very seriously indeed.” He added: “There’s no evidence that any material assets were taken, which is a good thing, and certainly the leak won’t have any influence on development or anything of the sort, but it is terribly disappointing and causes us to be ever more vigilant on matters relating to cybersecurity.”
Last year, the studio asked employees to come to the office five days a week, citing a desire for both increased productivity and security. This decision was criticized by workers affiliated with the IWGB, who said Rockstar broke promises with the forced return to office, and accused the studio of refusing to engage with workers on the issue.
Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
