Rockstar Games has caught the eye of many after firing over 30 employees in what the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain called a “blatant act of union-busting.” IWGB has since continued the claims in a video, stating, “[Rockstar] have done this for no other reason but to try to terrify and silence staff.” With a protest scheduled for 8am UK time, the story has continued to ramp up. Now, Rockstar has responded to the union-busting claim, stating that the workers discussed “confidential information.” The public, however, is not buying it.
Rockstar Defends Firings; Claims Workers Discussed “Confidential Information”
Jason Schreier of Bloomberg spoke to a representative from Rockstar Games, who told the journalist, “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.” They went on to say, “This was in no way related to people’s right to join a union or engage in union activities.”
Rockstar fired between 30 and 40 employees across the UK and Canada, with IWBG calling it a “blatant act of union-busting.” Alex Marshall, the president of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain, said Rockstar was “afraid of hard-working staff privately discussing exercising their rights for a fairer workplace and a collective voice.”
The workers, along with IWGB, protested at 8am UK time on Thursday, November 6, 2025. IWGB announced the protest online in a video saying, “Instead of focusing on the development of the much-awaited GTA 6, Rockstar have chosen to take on the role of their classic game villains by breaking labor laws and firing hard-working staff making the game, betraying both workers and fans alike.”
In the court of public opinion, many are siding with the workers, as not many appear to believe that Rockstar is faithful in its statement that the workers were “distributing and discussing confidential information.” Unfortunately, since the chat was private, there is no way to tell what was actually said until more information arises, but this could very well hurt Rockstar if the company did actively participate in union-busting.
