Former Rockstar Games employees want to continue working on Grand Theft Auto VI.
People Make Games published a video interview with several employees who were suddenly dismissed by Rockstar Games earlier this month. They have been protesting in front of Rockstar North ever since. The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) immediately declared this an anti-union act because the employees had just gained the support of 10% of the Edinburgh office staff to form a union. Rockstar responded by claiming that the employees had leaked information on Discord, but the employees deny this and claim that they were rushed out without any procedure or representation.
The video’s creator notes that they had already been contacted about the new union and had planned to announce it soon. They wanted to make a video about the union before the layoffs occurred. During the interview, the employees express their shock at the circumstances of their dismissal, which could negatively affect their résumés. The studio justified the dismissals as serious breaches of duty. They would still like to return to Rockstar to help finish Grand Theft Auto VI, which has been postponed for the second time.
“Having ‘gross misconduct’ on my resume for the rest of my life would be a huge detriment to any future career prospects. It’s also important to note that you feel ashamed to be kicked out of work this way. All of us still want to be here. We want our jobs; we want to finish what we were working on. The internal shame of having this gross misconduct on your record forever is hard to explain,” Bran said. But what will happen next? Fred, an IWGB organizer, responded:
“The immediate goal here is clear. It’s the reinstatement of all 31 UK workers who were fired, as well as the three Toronto workers. We know that our sister union in Canada is providing support. We’re fighting for the reinstatement of those workers. They deserve full compensation for lost wages during this period. There must be clear accountability for how these dismissals were handled. These were very clear, unfair dismissals without procedure or evidence. The company must be held accountable and commit to following UK employment law in the future.
What happens next is up to Rockstar. I just want to be clear. We’ve submitted our legal claim. Now, the ball is in their court to respond. We hope they’ll resolve this amicably. This is egregious and, to be honest, shocking. I have never seen anything like this, not just in the gaming industry, but also in UK trade union organizing in the last 20 years. This is Rockstar’s opportunity to set things right. These are workers who just want to go back to working on a game they love. If Rockstar doesn’t, then they’ve seen what they’ll have to deal with. Public opinion is against them on this, and we’ll continue to put pressure on Rockstar through legal action, demonstrations, and speaking out about what these workers have experienced,” Fred said.
The timing of the layoffs seems strange considering the studio wouldn’t want to lose experienced employees while working on a project like Grand Theft Auto VI. However, the UK is on the verge of passing employment rights legislation that will improve worker security starting next year. Therefore, now is the best time to make layoffs if that’s what someone really wants to do.
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