Update #2 []: An anonymous staff member from Rockstar has shed light on troubling times at the studio via the GTA Forums.
This has been a particularly tough week for the juggernaut studio, which delayed the hotly anticipated GTA 6 until 19th November, 2026 overnight.
Last week, the company dismissed approximately 30 to 40 staff from its Scottish and Canadian offices, in a move which was labelled as “union busting”.
But a statement from a studio spokesperson insisted those employees were dismissed due to sharing company secrets in a public forum. It’s since been confirmed that the mobilising staff were part of a private Discord also accessed by labour organisers.
This led to protests outside Rockstar North in Edinburgh and Take-Two’s office in London yesterday.
Now an anonymous staff member has shed more light on the situation, via GTA Forums.
We’re included the full, unedited post below:
Hey everyone, R* Employee of many years here!
Understandably I want to remain anonymous due to retaliation from the Company, but I may be willing to verify I'm an employee with @Spider-Vice via DM (if required). I am also a member of the Union.
I've been reading a lot of the discussion on here and elsewhere about the firing of more than 34 of my colleagues last week (31 in the UK + 3 in Canada) and have seen a lot of disinformation and lies that are really concerning. Particularly concerning how so many folk are willing to believe the Company's excuses.
Last week, my colleagues who were in the studio were each individually messaged by HR for a short friendly meeting, under the friendly guise of "Hey, are you free for a quick chat?"
Upon attending this meeting they were handed an envelope with a short letter stating that their employment had been terminated for "gross misconduct" regarding posts made in Discord.
They failed to provide any evidence when asked, nor was any stated in the letter. And did not divulge any other information or reasoning - "and no other reason"
They refused their right to Union representation in the disciplinary meeting (which is against UK employment law) and were frogmarched out of the studio with the meeting lasting less than 5 minutes.
For colleagues who were not in the Studio that day, they received a phone call from HR that lasted less than 2 minutes telling them they were fired and that they'd receive the same letter as above. I am aware of one employee who had a panic attack at this moment, and HR hung up on them during this panic attack not caring at all about their wellbeing.
These colleagues of mine were hard workers who have spent many many years at R* in critical roles. With colleagues who have been at R* for more that 18 years and none of them have ever had a disciplinary in that time. They are not easily replaced and will certainly affect us in making our project deadlines.
These are very senior artists, animators, QA testers, designers, programmers and producers. Including Leads. All super talented people who were proud of their work over multiple R* titles, and all they wanted was the best for R* and their fellow colleagues.
Some of these members were off sick, recovering from surgery or on paternity leave. Fired without pay, losing their careers and putting them into hardship in the lead up to Christmas, and even potentially losing their VISAs to work in the UK.
Let me make this clear! I never saw any discussion/leaking of Rockstar projects in the Union Discord. The only ever discussion was around unionisation efforts and the working conditions at R*. The Discord wasn't public. It was a private Discord group that only contained R* employees and the IWGB Union officials.
This was Union Busting and nothing else! Everyone fired was a Union Member, they were also predominantly from those who were on the Union Organising Committees of each UK studio.
Just one week before, the Union had reached ~200 members taking us over the 10% threshold required to seek recognition and begin engaging in collective bargaining. Allowing us to negotiate directly with management on the key issues that affect us: worsening crunch, inadequate pay and inflexible working arrangements.
They have fired over 34 of us now. There were over 250 of us in that Union/Employee Discord group. There is the fear that if they get away with this, they'll have nothing stopping them from doing this again and again.
Those of us who are lucky and remain for now work in fear! Fearful when talking to each other at the tea prep, fearful that we're next in line and are easily got rid of, too scared to go outside the studio and talk to (or even acknowledge) our colleagues outside protesting in fear of reprisals. Morale in the studio is at rock bottom. When we should be excited about what's to come over the next year we are now totally deflated and our trust and confidence in others is totally shot.
Which is the truly heartbreaking part, as for us in the Union, all of our ambition was to make R* a happier, fairer, safer and more equitable place. That's all. What has happened clearly shows that we care more about the wellbeing of our colleagues at Rockstar than the Company does.
The union remains unbowed and is fighting to win the reinstatement of every dismissed member of staff at Rockstar through legal means and campaigning.
This fight is critical, if Rockstar can get away with this, they will keep treating their workers with disdain, disrespect, and subjecting them to continued illegal treatment.
Thanks for your time, and I hope this is some truth that helps you all understand what's going on here at the moment.
I you would be so kind, you can contribute to the fundraiser to support those fighting their dismissal here: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/support-rockstar-workers-fighting-unfair-dismissals/It would be really appreciated if you could also share the above link. I won’t be cross posting this to other forums, but please feel free to share.
Cheers x
Update #1 []:
Things are escalating fast at developer Rockstar, where approximately 40 staff were fired last week in a move labelled by the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain as “union busting”.
The developer responded that staff were sacked for “discussing confidential information in a public forum”. It’s alleged that organising members were part of a private Discord, with the only outsiders being labour organisers.
And now it’s taken to the streets in both London and Edinburgh to protest against the dismissals.
Clips and images on social media show affected staff calling for their immediate reinstatement and back pay compensation.
One sacked staff member told IGN:
“All because I talked with colleagues in a private union chat. We weren’t leaking anything or trying to harm the company. We were supporting each other, trying to understand our workplace and make it better. To lose my job for that is deeply unfair. No one should be punished for being part of a union or for speaking honestly about their work.”
Politicians are now getting involved, with Ross Greer of the Scottish Greens insisting Rockstar “reinstate” the impacted employees and “get around the table [to] give your staff the pay and conditions they deserve for making you billions”.
Original Story: Rockstar management was underfire last week after sacking approximately 30-40 employees across its UK and Canadian offices.
Labour leaders alleged that the firings were related to the staffers’ attempt to unionise, but the GTA giant has hit back at the claims.
In a statement to Bloomberg, the firm said it took action because the affected had been sharing corporate secrets in a forum accessed by non-employees.
Its statement reads:
“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. This was in no way related to people’s right to join a union or engage in union activities.”
All impacted employees were allegedly part of a private trade union chat group on Discord, with the only outsiders said to be labour organisers.
The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain had previously described Rockstar’s actions as “one of the most blatant and ruthless acts of union busting in the history of the games industry”.
Alex Marshall, the president of the union, has since accused the company of being “afraid of hard-working staff privately discussing exercising their rights for a fairer workplace and a collective voice”.
Ever since a massive GTA 6 leak in 2022, Rockstar has been particularly strict, infamously forcing employees back into the office in the aftermath of the pandemic under the guise of security.