If the upcoming (and yes, it is coming, eventually) postponed release of GTA 6 wasn’t enough drama for you, here’s another kicker. Several former Rockstar employees have now come forward and accused the developer of union-busting practices after being fired earlier this year, and the result isn’t pretty. The workers are backed by the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), and the claims are paint Rockstar in a damning light.
According to the IWGB, the dismissals were a direct result of their efforts to organize for better working conditions, which doesn’t paint a good picture as far as Rockstar is concerned. The reply? Rockstar insists the layoffs were purely performance-driven and solely unrelated to any union activity.
Rockstar Layoffs
People Make Games traveled to Edinburgh to meet the 31 employees fired from Rockstar games, and commented on Rockstar calling it “gross misconduct” – a phrase that these employees surely disagree with.
The suspicious part is, that all these employees have been part of the union – coincidence? Specifically, Rockstar claimed that the employees let go at Rockstar North were “distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum.”
The IWGB has since claimed that they weren’t in fact leaks of confidential information, but rather discussions over poor working conditions.
The interviews were truly haunting and they paint a bleak picture of what the gaming industry has become. Calling something gross misconduct doesn’t only sound dramatic, but will inevitably damage the lives and future work opportunities of these former Rockstar members, which makes the union all the more important.
One of the most chilling statements truly had us fear for what’s next in this increasingly fragmented industry, however. In a recent statement to PC Gamer, several former Rockstar employees said they believe they were let go specifically because they tried to unionize parts of the company’s UK operations. The IWGB has since launched a campaign to hold Rockstar accountable, with one organizer describing the struggle as “the fight of our lives.”
The employees in question had been involved in early discussions around forming a union to address what they describe as a “toxic culture of fear and overwork” at the studio. They claim management responded with intimidation, abrupt terminations, and thinly veiled threats.
An IWGB organizer says the union are seeking compensation and workers to be reinstated in their roles. They are also seeking “clear accountability for the way these dismissals have been handled – these very clear unfair dismissals without procedure, without evidence. Clear accountability from the company and a commitment to following employment law in the UK in the future.”
Rockstar has denied any wrongdoing. The company states that “employment decisions are made solely on the basis of performance and business needs.” Still, this isn’t the first time the company has faced allegations of mistreatment behind the scenes, and the plot just thickened after these aforementioned statements.
Rockstar Working Conditions Overshadow GTA 6
For a company called “Rockstar”, there’s little to no admirable Rockstar attitude coming from all these statements, and the irony is becoming increasingly hard to ignore. Even as irate fans react to yet another GTA 6 delay, this latest development will do little to prevent it from becoming arguably gaming’s biggest release of all-time.
But if that’s how we got here, and this is how the company treats the employees working towards that goal, we’re not so sure that that’s something the community can just ignore.
It appears to us, that the myth of the “rockstar dev team” finally gives way to the reality of corporate gaming businesses, and it feels a little bit like that might need to happen, in order for other, huge companies to wake up and start caring more about their games and the people playing them, rather than being in it for the numbers alone.
One dismissed worker put it best: “We made the games that defined generations, and we’re being treated like we’re disposable. But this isn’t over.”