American video game studio Rockstar Games, the maker of the blockbuster Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead franchises, is challenging reports that dozens of employees were terminated for attempting to unionize. In the original Bloomberg report from Oct. 31, the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) claimed Rockstar released more than 30 workers in the UK and Canada due to their participation in a Game Workers Union Discord channel. But in a new statement submitted to Bloomberg games journalist Jason Schreier, Rockstar claims the employees were fired for leaking private company information, likely related to the studio’s long-awaited Grand Theft Auto VI.
“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,” the studio spokesperson said. “This was in no way related to people’s right to join a union or engage in union activities.” According to Rockstar’s statement given to Bloomberg’s Schreier, the Discord channel in question included non-employees.
Rockstar Games, a subsidiary and publishing arm of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. since 1998, fired “between 30 and 40” employees from its offices in the UK and Canada due to what it called “misconduct.” The IWGB told Bloomberg the now-former employees were active participants in organization efforts, and called the sweeping terminations “one of the most blatant and ruthless acts of I busting in the history of the games industry.”
IWGB President Alex Marshall responded to Rockstar’s allegations, saying the studio was “afraid of hard-working staff privately discussing exercising their rights for a fairer workplace and a collective voice.” Marshall continued: “Management are showing they don’t care about delays to GTA VI, and that they’re prioritizing union-busting by targeting the very people who make the game.”
Grand Theft Auto VI is expected to release on May 26, 2026 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S — barring any additional delays — and is projected to shatter existing video game sales records.
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