After Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption developer Rockstar fired 30-40 employees, the studio was accused of union busting by the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain. Rockstar denied the accusations through a spokesperson and maintained that these employees had leaked information on a public forum.
The latest chapter of the story saw an anonymous employee of the award-winning game development studio write a lengthy post on GTAForums, the biggest public forum dedicated to the series of best-selling open world videogames. This poster's identity was allegedly verified by a moderator at GTAForums.
In the post, this employee claims that the fired workers were practically ambushed by the HR department, which called them over 'for a quick chat' and then handed a termination letter accusing them of misconduct related to Discord discussions, but provided no evidence or further details about the supposed offense. Those physically present were reportedly forced out within minutes. Others who were not at the office received a brisk phone call of less than two minutes and were notified that they would receive the aforementioned letter. Some of them were sick, even recovering from surgery, or on family leave, and this sudden termination leaves them financially vulnerable.
The anonymous employee adds that Rockstar fired critical staff, such as leads, artists, designers, programmers, and producers, many of whom had long tenures and clean records at the studio. Moreover, he counters the official statement, clarifying that the Discord channel in question was strictly for employee and union discussions about working conditions, not for game leaks; all those who got terminated were union members. The timing, the employee says, was clearly aimed at sabotaging union recognition, just as the union group had reached the size needed to initiate formal negotiations for better pay and working conditions.
The post concludes with a warning that if Rockstar gets away with this, it may do it again without facing repercussions. The employee also urges fans to support the fired workers by making a donation via the Action Network.
The controversy arises in the same week that brought us to yesterday, when Rockstar announced the second delay of Grand Theft Auto VI, now slated for release on November 19, 2026.
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