The Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) has filed a legal claim against Rockstar Games, following the game developer's decision to suddenly fire 31 workers from the Edinburgh office (and three more in Canada). As we previously covered, Rockstar claimed the terminations were due to 'gross misconduct', which was later clarified as 'leaking information on a public forum'; however, the workers maintain that they had been on the verge of unionization after reaching the 10% threshold required by law.
Thus, the IWGB considers this a brazen act of union busting. After a series of protests held in front of the Rockstar North headquarters, the union asked the studio to voluntarily reinstate the workers, who said they wanted to return to work and finish their project (Grand Theft Auto VI, now scheduled for November 19, 2026).
However, yesterday afternoon, the union said Rockstar refused to meet, forcing them to issue the claim. The IWGB's legal department shared the following statement:
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.
IWGB President Alex Marshall added:
We are confident that what we’ve seen here is plain and simple union busting, and we will mount a full legal defence with our 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.
Notably, a legal claim is not the same thing as a lawsuit. Instead, it is an informal request to resolve the matter outside of court. However, if the legal claim isn't successful, the IWGB and the former Rockstar employees will likely have to file a proper lawsuit. Needless to say, the proceedings could take a lot of time, forcing some of them to look elsewhere for employment in the meantime.
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