In October 2025, Rockstar dismissed 34 employees across the UK and Canada for what parent company Take Two Interactive described as “gross misconduct”.
Subsequent statements clarified that this referred to “distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum,” revealed to be a Discord server operated by trade union organisation The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB).
The IWGB accused the developer of union busting, as those dismissed included 31 union members in the UK while the three who work in Canada were “union sympathetic.”
The latter employees were not members of any union “due to the difference in labour law between Canada and the UK,” the IWGB clarified to GamesIndustry.biz.
In response to IWGB’s claims, Rockstar said the dismissals were not related to union activities, and were instead the result of staff allegedly leaking “confidential information.”
“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 developer said in a statement.
“This was in no way related to people’s right to join a union or engage in union activities.”
The dispute escalated with formal legal claims filed by the IWGB against Rockstar and protests outside the company’s offices. The issue was raised in UK Parliament, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer describing the case as “deeply concerning.”
In January 2026, both parties attended a preliminary UK employment tribunal hearing during which the IWGB requested interim relief for the affected workers.
The case has wider implications for the games industry, not only for its impact on the development of what is widely expected to be the most commercially successful video game of all time, Grand Theft Auto 6, but also on the still-nascent involvement of trade unions in game development.
This timeline details the key events, which GamesIndustry.biz will update when new information comes to light.
Here’s everything we know so far about the dispute between Rockstar and the IWGB, and what it means for the dismissed employees.
October 30, 2025
The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) accused Rockstar of union busting following the dismissal of 31 employees.
The union claimed those fired were either members of IWGB or “attempting to organise” at Rockstar, and that all those dismissed at Rockstar UK were members of the IWGB Game Workers Union Discord channel claiming they were targeted “for [that] reason.”
In response, the IWGB said it would mount “a full and robust defense of its members who it believes have been targeted unfairly for exercising their legal rights.”
IWGB president Alex Marshall added: “Rockstar has just carried out the most blatant and ruthless act of union busting in the history of the games industry. This flagrant contempt for the law and for the lives of the workers who bring in their billions is an insult to their fans and the global industry.”
October 31, 2025
Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two Interactive dismissed claims of union busting, with spokesperson Alan Lewis stating the terminations were “for gross misconduct, and no other reason.”
November 6, 2025
Rockstar expanded on the above response in a statement to Bloomberg, alleging employees had leaked “confidential information” and not for union-related activities.
“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,” it said. “This was in no way related to people’s right to join a union or engage in union activities.”
In response, the IWGB accused Rockstar of being “afraid of hard-working staff privately discussing exercising their rights for a fairer workplace and a collective voice.”
“Management are showing they don’t care about delays to Grand Theft Auto 6, and that they’re prioritizing union-busting by targeting the very people who make the game.”
The same day, Rockstar announced that the launch of GTA 6 had been moved to November 19, 2026 for “additional polish.”
GTA 6 was originally announced in February 2022, and formally revealed with a trailer in December 2023. It had an initial release window of late 2025, before being moved to May 26, 2026.
November 7, 2025
The IWGB led protests outside the offices of Rockstar North and Take-Two Interactive in London and Edinburgh.
IWGB organiser Fred Carter said those impacted by the dismissals “were shocked” that Rockstar would “show such blatant disrespect and disregard for the rights of workers to have a union.”
“They’ve been fired for exercising their legal rights to speak to each other about their pay and conditions, to build a union in their workplace, to build a fairer, better workplace where the people who build games have a voice in how they’re made.”
He added: “People didn’t know what was going on, that their co-workers were being torn from their desks and marched out of the building […] This is a community that’s in shock and in anger.”
During the protest outside Take-Two’s London offices, an IWGB representative read out an anonymous testimony from a dismissed employee who claimed they were let go “without warning, without evidence, and without a chance to speak for [themselves].”
“We weren’t leaking anything or trying to harm the company,” they said. “We were supporting each other, trying to understand our workplace and make it better. To lose my job for that is deeply unfair. No one should be punished for being part of a union or for speaking honestly about their work.”
November 12, 2025
Formal legal claims were filed by the IWGB against Rockstar, with the union stating that the developer “declined” to meet with them “to resolve the matter through negotiation.”
“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,” the IWGB’s legal team said in a statement.
“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.”
IWGB president Alex Marshall added it will “mount a full legal defence with [its] expert group of caseworkers, legal officers, and barristers.”
“Employers like Rockstar would do well to understand that private spaces such as trade union Discord servers have protections, and that their company’s contractual clauses do not supersede UK law.
“This case stands as a warning to any employer in the games industry and beyond who thinks they are able to act with impunity against organised workers – we will not be intimidated.”
November 14, 2025
More than 200 staff at Rockstar North signed a letter demanding “the immediate reinstatement of their colleagues” following the mass termination.
Further protests took place outside Take-Two’s offices in London on November 17, in addition to a rally outside the company’s Paris headquarters led by members of Le Syndicat Travailleureuses du Jeu Vidéo (STJV).
Another protest took place outside Holyrood in Edinburgh on November 18, coinciding with a cross-party parliamentary group meeting about Scotland’s games industry.
Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West Christine Jardine brought up IWGB’s case of union busting in the House of Commons.
Jardine said on social media that she “urged ministers to support workers who have lost their jobs, and stop this from happening again.”
November 24, 2025
YouTube channel People Make Games published a video claiming that the alleged “confidential information” leaked by fired employees were discussions of Slack policies on a “closed, invite-only Discord used by unionised and non-unionised employees.”
The server included the IWGB, with discussions between employees and union representatives taking place in secure channels. There was also a general channel for unionised and non-unionised employees to discuss various topics.
According to the video, employees claimed that Rockstar shut down numerous internal Slack channels staff used to discuss non-work related topics due to the impact on productivity. Another change reportedly restricted what workers could put in their status messages on Slack.
As Rockstar restricts staff from accessing their inboxes outside the office, some UK employees were not made aware of these changes. Staff who had access to their inboxes subsequently shared the information on Discord for them to see.
The video stated that one employee in the Discord was concerned about these internal emails being shared in the server, and subsequently notified Rockstar leading to an investigation and the subsequent dismissals.
“I think it is absolutely normal for people to be discussing their material conditions, whether that’s bonuses, whether that’s policies, whether that’s anything like that,” IWGB president Alex Marshall told PMG. “That’s completely normal for staff to be doing that and for an employer to respond in a way that comes down so hard on that shows not only that they are governing by this lack of transparency, but they’re also trying to govern by fear.”
“They feel completely threatened by the idea of workers talking to each other and that’s why they’ve taken this act to try and destroy the union, decimate any form of solidarity being built between workers.”
December 10, 2025
The IWGB’s case against Rockstar was formally raised in UK Parliament. Scottish Labour MP for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh Chris Murray said he had met with Rockstar about the case, though the developer had “failed to reassure me they are following employment law.”
Murray called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to address the situation, and asked if “all companies, regardless of profit and size, must follow UK employment law and all workers have the right to join a union.”
In response, Starmer described the dismissal of Rockstar employees as a “deeply concerning case,” and that ministers would investigate it.
“Every worker has the right to join a trade union,” said Starmer. “We’re determined to strengthen workers rights and ensure they don’t face unfair consequences for being part of a union.”
Murray told IGN he had contacted Rockstar directly to discuss the case alongside MPs Tracy Gilbert and Scott Arthur at Rockstar North’s offices. “The meeting began with us as MPs refused entry unless an NDA was signed, a request they eventually withdrew after it being made clear this would not be signed,” Murray said.
“[It] only entrenched my concerns about the process Rockstar used to dismiss so many of their staff members. I was not assured their process paid robust attention to UK employment law, I was not convinced that this course of action was necessary, and alarmingly, I did not leave informed on exactly what these 31 people had done to warrant their immediate dismissal.”
December 11, 2025
Rockstar once again disputed the IWGB’s claims of union busting in a statement to IGN, saying that staff who were dismissed had “distributed and discussed confidential information in a public forum, in breach of company policy and legal obligations.”
“Rockstar took action against a small group of individuals, across the UK and internationally, who distributed and discussed confidential information (including specific game features from upcoming and unannounced titles) in a public forum, in breach of company policy and their legal obligations,” the developer said.
“Claims that these dismissals were linked to union membership or activities are entirely false and misleading.”
December 12, 2025
The IWGB said Rockstar’s latest statement was “littered with falsehoods and disinformation” and that it was “attempting to reverse engineer a rationale for the dismissals.”
“Once again, they have chosen to mischaracterise workers speaking about their working conditions in a private forum as ‘leaking information’,” the organisation said. “From the UK Prime Minister in the House of Commons, to the game developers across the world erupting in protest – all eyes are on Rockstar and their lawless attack on the people who make them their billions.”
Rockstar subsquently responded to the IWGB’s comment in a statement: “As we suspected and as evidenced by the response to our statement, they have no idea who was in this Discord.”
January 5, 2025
Rockstar and the IWGB attended a preliminary UK employment tribunal hearing on January 5, with the union requesting interim relief for the dismissed employees, pointing out that some no longer had “the right to remain in the country they have made their home.”
“No matter the outcome of this interim hearing, we remain confident in the strength of the case we have brought against Rockstar. We reiterate our firm belief that Rockstar broke the law when it summarily dismissed 31 of our members, and we look forward now to the day we face them in court for a full and substantive tribunal hearing.”
Rockstar said it “categorically denies the claims” heard during the hearing.
“We have consistently made clear that we took necessary action against a group of individuals across the UK and Canada who discussed highly confidential information, including relating to game features from upcoming and unannounced titles, in an insecure and public social channel,” Rockstar said in a public statement. “This was a breach of long-standing and well-understood confidentiality policies.”
“We regret that these dismissals were necessary; however, confidentiality is fundamental to everything Rockstar does,” the developer added. “This was never about union membership. We have always taken a zero-tolerance approach to unauthorized releases of information – and we always will.”
January 12, 2025
The Glasgow Employment Tribunal rejected the IWGB’s request for interim relief for the affected staff.
“In all the circumstances, the tribunal was unable to conclude that it appears likely that the tribunal will find that the principal reason for the claimants’ dismissal was their membership of the IWGB,” Judge Frances Eccles wrote in the judgement.
Eccles also highlighted that three of the affected claimants were based in Canada and not part of the IWGB, suggesting union-busting was not a factor in their dismissal. “There were also employees connected to the IWGB as members of the organising committee, who showed support for the trade union or identified themselves as trade union members on Discord and who were not dismissed,” wrote Eccles.
While the IWGB expressed disappointment with the decision, it said it “does nothing to dampen our hopes of winning justice when the full hearing takes place,” saying it felt “bolstered in our claims that these firings were not just deeply unjust but also plainly unlawful,” and noting that “the judge stated in her ruling that: ‘There was no evidence of the respondent having suffered any adverse consequences as a result of these postings’.”
“We welcome the decision, which is consistent with Rockstar’s position throughout,” a Rockstar Games spokesperson told IGN. “We regret that we were put in a position where dismissals were necessary, but we stand by our course of action as supported by the outcome of this hearing.”
January 13, 2025
Following this hearing, People Make Games shared some of the evidence submitted by Rockstar which included the “confidential information” shared on the Discord server.
This was revealed to refer to a conversation between two employees about requesting time off, which turned into a discussion regarding QA testers and a “32-player session.”
PMG said Rockstar was “gravely concerned to discover some of the claimants had been sharing highly confidential and commercially sensitive information relating to the content and features of an unannounced live service.”
“They discussed the specific number of online players planned for this service, a material feature of this new title, which has not yet been revealed by Rockstar.”
The evidence also revealed that the journalist Rockstar described as “lurking” in the Discord server was narrative designer Scott Alsworth. Alsworth was an elected representative of the IWGB’s Game Workers branch, and had previously written six articles for the gaming section of socialist newspaper The Morning Star. Rockstar’s submission to the court said Alsworth’s presence on the server was a “legitimate risk” to the studio.
February 3, 2026
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick commented on the ongoing litigation, clarifying that the publisher takes its “labour relations really seriously.”
“We think we have the best creative folks in the world and we have extraordinary respect for all those people,” said Zelnick.
“With regards to that specific matter, the tribunal rejected the union’s application for interim relief, we think that was the right decision. We regret that we had to dismiss [staff], we stand by what we did and that was supported in the outcome of the hearing.”
May 28, 2026
Rockstar employees announced the formation of the Rockstar Game Workers Union (RGWU), a subsidiary of the IWGB.
The RGWU stated it was ready to launch publicly last year after reaching the 10% union threshold just before the dismissals.
“These dismissals, which we believe to be the most blatant and ruthless act of union busting the UK games sector has ever seen, sparked protests across the globe, drew international media attention, and initiated a high profile legal battle which will see its final hearing later this year,” it said.
“These mass firings did not crush our union. In fact, we are larger and stronger than we have ever been. We passed the 10% membership threshold again shortly after the dismissals, and since then have continued to see more and more workers join us from every site around the UK.”
